The Marauder's Angels
by Vyssirae
Summary: We all know the Marauders when they're grown up, but what really happened around them when they were in school? Marauder Era. A story of the marauders and their girls starting right before Hogwarts. Rated for future violence, sex, and other mature themes
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or anything coming from JK Rowling's books. You should know what's mine and what isn't if you've read the books ;)

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Chapter 1

A group of five hooded figures materialized out of the darkness. There was a faint mumbling heard and then the ends of four sticks lit up the night. They faintly illuminated a street corner. The sign at the edge of the street read Jenkins Way. The fifth hooded figure repeatedly tried to sneak away, but was pulled back every time.

Suddenly a large purple object came hurtling down the road. It swerved back and forth causing trees and mailboxes to leap out of the way. As it careened closer it could be made out as a double-decker bus. It came to a crashing halt in front of the small shadowy group. Its doors flew open and a tall man stumbled out.

"Mrs. Jenkins?" he asked, glancing at each cloaked figure in turn.

A slim figure stepped forward, carefully lowering its hood. A woman's face was revealed. Her dark gray eyes glimmered slightly against her pale perfect skin. She sneered at the man. "Right here."

A distinct whisper was heard between two of the other figures. "Filthy halfblood stands there like the insolent dunce that he is. Does he not know that he is speaking to a superior pureblood?"

A flash of hurt flowed over the man's features before his face-hardened. He stepped to the side and gestured for them to board. "Your chariot awaits your majesties," he said sarcastically under his breath.

One of the two whisperers gasped. Two figures boarded before this one. When this figure boarded it whispered maliciously, "You had better watch your back filth. Who knows what will be at your bedside late one night? You never know what day will be your last, but trust me, you just brought your last day closer."

Next came Mrs. Jenkins. She dragged the smaller cloaked figure forward. The hood fell off of the small person. It turned out that this figure was a girl. Her straight red-brown hair began to blow in the wind, obscuring her eyes from view. She struggled hard against Mrs. Jenkins's grip. Finally however Mrs. Jenkins pulled the stick from within her robes again and pointed it threateningly at the girl. The girl visibly gave up. Her shoulders slumped and she stopped her kicking. She followed the woman up to the bus. When she passed the man she turned her head and mouthed the word "sorry," guilt and sorrow evident in her eyes. With that she was roughly shoved aboard the bus.

As they walked past the driver he stood and pulled his hat off of his balding head. "Ah Mrs. Jenkins," he drawled, "always a pleasure. Who is th' young 'un? Surely not yours?"

"Actually Ted, this is my daughter, Alice Jenkins," she replied with forced kindness. Her family knew that she only spoke to this man because his father was a highly respectable man in the Ministry.

The girl immediately gained a sour look. "It's AJ," the girl breathed angrily. The grip on her shoulder tightened and AJ knew that it meant that she was supposed to move forward. AJ also knew that she would never make things that easy. She glanced up at her mother innocently. "Mother, your nails are quite sharp. I never realized." AJ nearly grinned when she heard the man who had ushered them aboard give a snort of laughter.

Mrs. Jenkins glared at her daughter warningly before saying through gritted teeth, "Darling I think it's high time we went to our seats. Please lead the way."

"Oh of course Mother." AJ led the way down the aisle. She slowly, very slowly made her way toward the back. AJ stopped at nearly every other seat to glance out the window or to gaze in interest at the occupants. Finally her mother jabbed her in the back.

"Alice," Mrs. Jenkins whispered, "if you do not pick up your pace then I will use my wand to force you and when we get home to the manor…" she let the ending hang, letting AJ's mind create a torture. AJ hurried along to the back where she quickly climbed the stairs, leaving her mother panting in her wake. She slid into a seat by herself in front of her aunt and uncle, two of the cloaked figures. Directly behind them sat a lone, cloaked figure that AJ knew was her father, Alan Jenkins.

Finally Mrs. Jenkins made it up the stairs and she sat gracefully beside her husband. She immediately began whispering with him. When AJ received a glare from her father and a smirk from her mother, she knew that she would be in trouble later.

To avoid the looks that she was receiving from her family she kept her eyes trained forward watching the other people on board. As the bus lurched forward her eyes fell on an interesting sight. A few rows up, on the right side were two kids that appeared to be AJ's age. There was a sandy haired boy sitting by the window, and next to him was a black haired girl. They sat quietly, every once in a while saying something quietly causing the other to look at them with interest.

AJ silently wished that she could be up there with them. She only ever saw adults, and these two even looked like they were eleven like her. It was a huge coincidence, but unfortunately there was no way that her parents would approve. These two were obviously not pureblood and thus, by her parents' standards, not even worth looking at.

Finally watching them was too much so AJ turned her eyes to the window. She watched as the bus rolled down an old country road, then with a crack they were thundering down a suburban road, She saw an old woman watering her flowers, a young couple sitting on a swing on their porch, a family sitting outside that consisted of a woman with red hair, a man with slightly graying brown hair, a daughter with bright red hair, and a skinny brown haired girl with a frown on her face. They seemed so at ease, AJ wondered if it were just a muggle thing. She had never met a magical family that at ease. She sighed as with another crack they ran across a bridge.

She looked at the boy and girl again. They already seemed more at ease with each other. The boy said something to the girl that caused her to grin then the girl responded and the boy smiled back. She glanced behind her and saw that all of the members of her family were asleep. It was then that AJ made to walk up to talk to them. She stood and began walking down the aisle. She sat in the seat across from them and said, "Hi. I'm AJ. I'm going into first year at Hogwarts, how 'bout you guys?"

The boy looked at AJ suspiciously. The girl, taken aback, answered quietly, "Me too. I'm Robyn."

After a nudge from the girl, the boy also answered, hesitant and equally as quiet, "I'm Remus. I'm in first year too." Just as AJ was about to continue talking, she saw Robyn and Remus glance over her head and she felt nails dig into her shoulder. She groaned, knowing what was going to happen next.

"Alice," AJ's mother began sweetly. AJ winced. "You need to move away from these," she glanced the two children up and down, "unworthy half-blood children." She then turned to Remus and Robyn, "And you two, stay away from my daughter." AJ hung her head. There go two more potential friends.

Her mother dragged her back to her seat and shoved her in. AJ watched as Remus told Robyn something, with an angry expression. Slowly it seemed, Robyn calmed him down, but he still kept shooting her dirty looks. Robyn never even glanced back. AJ watched on with envy as they both went back to talking comfortably.

She watched them until the bus lurched to a halt and her family stood. She noticed happily that Robyn and Remus also appeared to be getting off at this stop. They exited the bus and AJ took this as her chance to talk to the two. She walked snuck up and made her presence known.

"Hey guys!" Remus turned to her with an angry look. Robyn just watched on.

"What do you want? I thought we were under you?" Remus said, eyes flashing. At this Robyn grabbed his arm and whispered something in Remus's ear. He took a deep breath.

AJ immediately became somber. "Listen, I'm sorry about that. My mom is a bi-"

For the third time today, nails closed around AJ's shoulder. "What am I Alice?"

AJ's eyes widened in shock. This was not going to be good. The tone her mother was using spoke of trouble. "Mother! What a surprise!"

"Alice, do not kid me. What are you doing talking to these two? And what are you doing talking to my daughter?" The last question was directed toward Remus and Robyn.

"Well Mother, it's very interesting. You see I saw these two and decided to force my company upon them. They didn't want to defy you and so questioned why I was talking to them as I was above them." She glanced up and saw that Remus was looking angry and was going to say something. She used a weird signal to inform Robyn to shut him up and luckily Robyn understood and kept him quiet.

"Interesting. Well Alice I believe that it's time to get to the Convention." AJ was then dragged away before she could even say goodbye. AJ however was just happy that her mother hadn't yelled at the other two again.


	2. Chapter 2

I AM SO SORRY IT'S BEEN SO LONG! I have a few more chapters written up though, i promise! I'll be posting those soon. Hopefully the length of this makes up for the wait a bit :/ PLEASE REVIEW!

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_I HATE MY MOTHER!_ AJ fumed. They were about to enter the Hall where the Pureblood Convention was being held. AJ had just been forced into _two_ _hours _of being primped. This was only one thing to add to her rapidly lengthening list of things to hate about her mother. Among them were being a purist, secluding her from potential friends, treating her like a fragile little girl… she could go on forever.

AJ fidgeted as her mother placed the final spells to keep AJ's clothes looking presentable. AJ was curious however as to why she was _this_ dressed up. Mrs. Jenkins had made AJ wear a dark blue halter-top dress. There were some diamonds scattered along the top of it. Dark blue ribbons tied the dress around her neck and tied her hair up. She was wearing black heels and a diamond necklace. She also had diamond studs in her ears. AJ actually looked very elegant, which was cause for her to pout. The last time AJ had been this dressed up it had been for a wedding, and AJ _hated_ weddings.

"Mother," she whined, "I am _not_ going into the ballroom dressed like this!"

"Alice Jenkins, if you want to keep your new puppy alive then I suggest you do not complain about that again," her mother hissed.

"Too late mother," AJ replied, "You beheaded him three days ago."

Mrs. Jenkins's pulled out her wand as a threat. "Alice, keep your disrespectful little mouth shut!"

With that, the large mahogany doors before them were thrown open. They were ushered in and AJ glanced around, bored. This Convention looked just like every other Convention. The ballroom was the size of multiple American football fields. It had white walls, white marble floors, white marble columns and small niches spaced out along the walls. These could fit four adults at most. The niches each contained a padded bench, colored in shades of dark green and black.

AJ looked around for another minute before deciding that she was wasting her time.

_"Oh yay. Another year, another Convention full of the same, old, boring, stuck up purebloods. I wish there was something interesting here." _She thought a moment longer._ "A PRANK. Too bad mother would have me skinned alive for misbehav- oh who am I kidding. I'll never behave good enough for her. But who to prank…and with what?"_

Glacing around slyly AJ spotted a horrible looking woman wearing a black fur coat.

"_Perfect."_

She began slinking toward the woman.

The nails quickly dug into her shoulder again. Merlin those nails were getting annoying! This time the grip was hard enough to bruise. Her mother quickly turned her around.

"You read my mind Alice, Let us go speak to Walburga Black. I'm sure she would be delighted to meet you." AJ nearly laughed aloud at the woman's name. What kind of name is Walburga? Then again, they were purebloods, weird names were almost part of the job description. Unfortunately for AJ, at that moment she realized that the woman her mother was speaking of, 'Walburga,' was the woman in the black fur coat.

Mrs. Jenkins expertly led them through the crowd until they were in place before Mrs. Black. Upon closer inspection, AJ noticed that this woman had black hair, expertly arranged in a bun. Her otherwise flawless face was marred by a condescending smirk. The pureblood smirk. Every pureblood family had one, only slightly differing from the other families. Walburga Black's perfectly manicured fingernails tapped against her champagne glass impatiently, watching mother and daughter approach.

The two women greeted each other formally, with a slight peck on each cheek. Then AJ's mother spoke. It was in such an oversweet tone that it caused AJ to cringe.

"Walburga, darling, I haven't seen you in such an extraordinarily long while! How is your husband, Orion, faring?"

"He is faring quite well," Walburga spoke with a smirk. Her tones were very silky and sophisticated, and like AJ's mother's voice, laced with false kindness. "Thank you for asking Loraine dear. It has been such a long time since we last spoke face-to-face. I have missed your presence dearly at the past few Conventions.

The two women continued with the pleasantries for a while before something they said caught AJ's attention.

"Walburga, do you believe it is time to inform the children?"

AJ glanced around for the aforementioned children, but was only met by the sight of adult men and women around her. She didn't see any children beside herself. She thought that maybe her mother was finally going off her rocker. Maybe that beheaded dog thing was the last straw?

"Loraine, what a splendid idea!" She then spoke to the air. "Kreatcher!" AJ jumped at the sudden harsh, evil tone. The summons was immediately followed by a _pop_ and a short creature appeared by her side. It had large oversized ears, arms, and feet. It also had odd burns on its hands and a spreading bruise on its forehead. It's only clothes were a tattered cloth that looked as though it used to be white. The house elf bowed low to Mrs. Black. "Kreatcher, go collect Sirius. NOW!" She gave the poor creature a kick for extra measure and he left with another _pop._

Moments later Kreatcher returned, dragging a squirming, protesting boy. AJ watched the boy with interest. The boy however stopped squirming the moment he spotted her. He stood up slowly and gazed at her. They sized each other up as the two women resumed chatting.

Seconds later the women turned to the two children. They both had odd glints in their eyes and were smirking. Both kids knew that this definitely did not bode well. The smirk alone told them that they were not going to be happy, but add in the evil glint that was in their eyes and the kids knew that they should probably start finalizing funeral plans.

"Sirius," his mother began. This was highly unnecessary for he was already staring at her in silence. "This Is Alice Marie Jenkins."

"My name is AJ!" AJ muttered under her breath. Fortunately only the boy heard and he only gave her a quick glance before he was again watching his mother.

"Alice," her own mother began. ("AJ" was once again murmured.) "This is young Sirius Black. Heir to the House of Black."

AJ desperately wanted to say "so," but she knew that she was already walking on thin ice, so instead she contented herself with merely a raised eyebrow. Her mother took a large breath. "We thought we would tell both of you the following information so that you wouldn't shame us by fainting on stage."

They both were staring avidly at their mothers, their curiosity peaked. Their mothers were normally too proper to act in such a roundabout manner. Whatever it was that they were about to say was definitely going to be big. After what seemed like a century the two women stated in unison, "You are betrothed."


	3. Chapter 3

Wow, I got this one up much faster :D Hope you guys like this one! The next chapter i post is gonna bring Remus and Robyn back in and hopefully it'll be up just as quick as this one. PLEASE REVEIW!!!

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Sirius and AJ glanced at each other in confusion. "_What the Hell is betrothed?" _They both thought.

"Don't worry!" AJ's mother put in. "I'm sure you two will become friends soon enough."

AJ and Sirius showed visible signs of relief. They both had similar thoughts running thoughts running through their minds. _"That's not too bad. At least our mothers didn't come up with something horrible. Merlin knows they have come up with some _bad_ things before."_

"I am so pleased to see the two of you taking this so well. Now run along and begin bonding as the two of us discuss the arrangements," Mrs. Black gave a fake smile and shooed them by wagging her fingers in a mockery of a wave. The two were not fooled. Though her words seemed sweet enough, they both knew that what Mrs. Black was _really_ saying was, "For once you two insolent brats have acted in a non-shameful manner, now leave immediately before i realize you what you actually did do."

They dove into the crowd of purebloods. They maneuvered through the endless throng of adults, nearly getting separated at one point when Sirius ran into a large woman's even larger bottom while AJ bumped into the woman's glass of red wine. The woman shrieked as a huge droplet landed on her pure wine red dress and she felt an unknown person touch her bottom. She spun around, in the process of which she spilled more wine down the front of her rather low cut dress. Behind her was an unfortunate, very short man. The man stared up at her with obvious fear. He was half of her height and impossibly thin.

" 'ow dare you!" She yelled with a French accent while taking a step back. AJ was nearly smothered by the large bottom pressing a bit too close for comfort.

"I apologize madam!" The man squeaked. "I didn't notice that I had disturbed you."

The woman stared at him for a moment before laughing. "You sir, are adorable. I would love to talk to you over another glass of wine."

"Of course madam." The unlikely pair moved and signaled for a house elf to bring them some wine.

AJ and Sirius watched in amazement for a moment before shaking their heads and moving off once again. Finally they spotted an open niche along the southern wall. They waltzed in and got comfortable. Sirius lounged back against a few of the many cushions strategically placed for comfort within the niche. Both having been to numerous conventions, they knew that the niches were sight and sound proofed. They were free to do as they pleased, for now.

AJ watched Sirius with interest. He was the first boy her age that she had been permitted to see in a very long time. The last time she had seen a boy she had "accidentally" kneed the annoying little brat in a very uncomfortable area. She still didn't know the boy's name, but she remembered that he had called her "princess" and that had annoyed her very badly. Sirius however didn't seem too bad. His long black hair that flipped casually into his gray eyes was very cute, she decided. She stared for a while, until finally he looked up. This was when he made a huge mistake.

Sirius saw AJ's interest and decided that that exact moment would be perfect to see how she would react to her full name with no adults present. He leaned forward slightly and began, "So Alice-" He had barely finished her name before he was pinned against the wall. Sirius however did not spot the severity of the situation. Instead he felt the need to add, "There's no need to throw yourself at me Alice."

It took a moment for AJ to register his stupidity, but the second she did she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pressed against his windpipe. She watched as his gray eyes began to shine with fear.

"My name is AJ," she growled. "If you ever call me Alice again you will not appreciate the consequences."

Sirius could hardly believe his eyes. Where moments before there had stood an innocent brunette girl now stood a frightening witch, eyes a dark gray flecked with red, and hair crackling with energy. All he could manage was a small nod as he lay quivering in her iron grip.

"Now, what's my name?" she hissed.

"A-" he gasped. "AJ," he finally forced out. AJ carefully lowered him to the cushions.

"I'm ever so happy that you finally got that through your thick skull Sirius _darling_." She said sweetly, giggling slightly. This only made things worse in Sirius's mind. What sort of person goes from furious to sweet in a matter of moments? He backed further into the corner of the small niche and curled up into the tiniest ball that he could manage. This crazy girl terrified him.

A few minutes later a third person walked into the niche. It was another boy their age. This boy had messy black hair and hazel eyes.

"Hey Sirius I saw you come this way with some weird girl-" His eyes immediately gained an amused glint as his gaze fell upon Sirius. "What are you doing?" The new boy walked over to Sirius's quivering form and waved his hand in front of Sirius's face saying, "Sirius, mate? You ok?"

"Sh- she a- attacked me." Sirius whined.

"Ha, Sirius you were beat up by a girl, _again_? This is almost as bad as the last time when the girl kneed you!" James snickered.

"Wait! That was you!" AJ cried. "Wow, you must be really bad to get me that mad _twice_."

"You're the one who kicked me!" Sirius sat up angrily. "I couldn't stand right for a week!"

"Well you know what, you deserved it! You called me 'princess.' No one gets away with that. That's almost as bad as my real name!"

James gave AJ a good look before speaking up. "So scary, not-to-be-called-princess girl, what _is_ your name?"

"AJ."

He raised his eyebrows imploringly. "AJ…?"

"Jenkins."

The boy's kind grin immediately faded into a vicious smirk. "Ah, that explains _everything_. Only a Jenkins female- I can't even say woman- would lack even enough honor to behave as a lady. Only a Jenkins female would disgrace herself enough as to lose her temper. Your whole family has no honor." His face was of pure contempt. The red flecks in AJ's eyes had begun to return. The next words the boy spoke were filled with pride. "We, Potters believe that those of the Jenkins family are weak, arrogant, loathsome creatures not even befit the title of pureblood. Only the worst people would ever befriend a person of the Jenkins family."

AJ was becoming steadily more angry with each passing word. The red in her eyes was slowly taking over the gray. They were almost half red already. AJ lowered her head taking deep breaths, attempting to control her temper. She had never had anyone push her this hard before. It was very difficult for her not to just attack the boy on the spot.

Sirius who was staring at the floor trying to avoid AJ's gaze saw an odd reflection on the pure white tile floor. It was two specks of red spaced barely two inches apart, almost like two red eyes. Sirius gasped and looked up at AJ. Her fists were shaking and her eyes were turning blood red. Sirius gave a high pitched squeal and fell to his knees before the Potter boy, begging and pleading with him, "Please shut up! James please! Are you stupid? James!" James however, took no notice and instead took a deep breath to continue.

"If I'm right in who you are, then it's you Loraine Jenkins was complaining about. What, can the Jenkins family not even stand each other now? Or is it just you they can't stand, _Alice_?" This was the last straw. Sirius was shoved to the side, whimpering as AJ ran over to James. She grabbed the front of his shirt and shoved him against the wall.

"As I told my betrothed here, I'm AJ, not Alice, and if I'm so weak why is it you can't break my grip and get free, and _why_ do you fear me right now?" she dropped him in a heap on the floor.

Sirius watched with sympathy throughout the entire event before moaning, "Why must these niches be spelled for secrecy? No one knows to come save us James!"

"Well betrothed of mine, it is so that I may beat on you to my heart's content, and so that other adult purebloods may do _things_ in them without attracting the scorn of other purebloods in the vicinity."

"And how would you know that?" asked James.

"I've walked in on dozens of stupid couples, and one horrendous group of three, who forgot to ward the niches first. All of those meetings scarred me for life."

"You haven't been scarred until you walk in on my cousin Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy like I did today. You would have nightmares for weeks if you had heard _them_." Sirius shuddered.

"No," James exclaimed. "Walking in on my parents last year was the worst."

Sirius covered his eyes. "I still can't look at them the same way," he cried.

AJ and James plopped down onto the seat next to Sirius. They all made themselves comfortable and continued talking as though they had been friends for years. They traded many of their horror stories about the conventions. Obviously the horrors of pureblood society were enough to bring anyone together. Even so, about half an hour later Sirius was still flinching whenever AJ moved.

"Why must I be betrothed to a scaredy-cat!" she whined.

"Yeah, well why must I be betrothed to a weird, scary _girl_!" Sirius retorted.

James looked at Sirius. "You want to be betrothed to a guy?"

"Well duh! I mean it'd be great of I were betrothed to you."

James backed away slightly. "Sirius, do you know what that means? Is this your way of telling me you're gay? Oh Merlin, my best mate fancies me!"

"What the Hell! I never said that!"

"Yes you did!"

"Nuh uh!"

"YES- Wait! You and AJ are betrothed?"

"Yeah," AJ said. "So?"

"You guys really don't know what that means do you?" James asked, slowly moving his eyes from one to the other.

"It means we have to be close friends or something. I don't know!" Sirius spoke exasperated. AJ nodded in agreement.

"Oh Merlin, you really don't know!" James fell into a string of incoherent muttering. AJ slowly turned to Sirius.

"What the Hell is wrong with that nitwit?" she whispered.

"No idea. He's usually not this bad." He whispered back.

"Hm," AJ turned to James. "Oi! Potter!" she shrieked, to no avail.

"Let me try," Sirius said, shoving her aside as he skipped over to the space next to James ear. He shuddered at something before he began. "Oh Merlin! Mr. and Mrs. Potter! AH my eyes!" Sirius yelled. James head flung up.

"No not again! Shield my eyes and ears!" he dove into the pillows shoving one over his head as he went.

"This is from when we walked in on his parents last year in one of these niches. Works every time." Sirius whispered. AJ snickered. Sirius skipped over to James and pried the pillow from James's clutching hands. "Jamie, darling, your parents aren't here. It was a mistake. A trick of the light. Now _please_ tell us what betrothed means!"

James glared at Sirius and then became curiously nervous as he straightened in his seat. He smoothed his clothes, ran his fingers through his unruly hair and gulped. "W-well you see, that- um that means that you two- uh- you two have to…" he trailed off and began giggling hysterically. AJ raised her eyebrows.

"Spit it out!" she growled.

"It means you two are gonna tie the knot." James said as fast as he could. He looked at each of them anxiously, as though expecting an explosion. It came, but not in the form he had expected.

Sirius jumped up cheering. "Yay! I thought it was going to be something horrible!"

AJ sighed. "Me too. Knot tying is easy."

"Yeah, my mom taught me some bloody _ace_ knots this summer. She thought it would get me to behave better. She musta been drinking."

"Oh yay tying knots." James mocked. "You both must be stupid." AJ cleared her throat loudly. "N-no offense AJ," he added quickly.

"Why're you mocking us? You're the one who said it!" AJ asked.

"I didn't mean tying knots exactly. ("Then why did he say it?") "I meant, well, espoused." James said.

"No I refuse to be stuck with him forever!" AJ cried.

"What'd I do to deserve this?" Sirius asked in shock.

'Finally they're getting it,' James thought.

"Guys, it's not so-" he began consolingly.

"I don't wanna be a spout!" the two distraught eleven year olds yelled. With those few words AJ and Sirius burst into tears, holding onto each other for support. James watched for a moment, utterly amazed at their stupidity.

'I spoke- thought- to soon.' After staring for another moment he realized, 'Oh Merlin! They are exactly alike! I can't –No! The _world_ can't handle this.' Finally when he could no longer stand their hysterics he yelled, "Oi, idiots! Shut up! You aren't being turned into spouts."

"R-really?" AJ sniffed.

"Really."

"But why did you say we are then?"

"I didn't. I said espoused."

"Exactly…?"

"No it means, well it means the same thing as betrothed."

"Oh."

"So what'd they mean?" Sirius asked.

"Well, you to are gonna have to… well I'll use an example. Ummm… oh! Sirius, your cousin Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy are betrothed."

Sirius gained a horrified and disgusted expression. "You- you don't mean that me- me'n AJ'll have to…" he gulped.

Then AJ seemed to catch on to what Sirius was thinking, for her face mirrored his. She eyed him for head to toe. "Oh HELL no!"

James placed a sorry look upon his face. "I'm afraid you _will_ have to-"

James was abruptly cut off as the entire Convention was silenced with a spell. A male voice boomed over everyone. "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to give you a five minute warning. Lady Loraine Jenkins and Lady Walburga Black shall be making a very exciting announcement at that time."

As the silencing spell was removed AJ and Sirius groaned. Then Sirius, noticing James's confusion added, "How can they announce something like that? Of course it is my mother. Anything is possible with _her_."

This only made James more confused. "But they always announce betrothals…"

"I thought that kind of _relationship_ was improper to mention in public. How can they do this to me? I would never- will never- do that with him! Sure I've seen all those people in the niches, but me and him? No way!"

Finally James caught on to their train of thought. "No! Oh Merlin! No not _that_! That isn't it! You guys are going to get-" He cut off as a burly looking house elf appeared out of thin air in between the two immensely confused eleven year olds.

"Ye two are t' come wif me. Yer mothers' orders," the elf mumbled gruffly. When they refused he grabbed them roughly by their elbows.

As the two were dragged off they faintly heard James yell, "Your getting marr-" before he was cut off by the crowd. After a few moments of persuasion the elf reluctantly let them walk on their own. They began to have a rapid whispered conversation.

"Did- did you happen to catch what James said?" AJ asked.

"I think so, but I have to be wrong because I thought he said we're getting merry. But that makes no sense."

"Unless he was cut off. Then it could have been anything, like Mary had a Little Lamb."

"or that place in the United States, Maryland." Sirius whispered, pronouncing it Mary-land.

"or a house elf named Mary."

"or we could have missed the beginning."

"Yeah! Then it could be rosemary."

"or Merry Christmas."

"or even married." AJ gave a little laugh. Sirius laughed too.

"Married? We'd never get married. We'd kill eachother first"

"Yeah I know!" They both continued to laugh until they came up their mothers.

Both mothers immediately expressed their happiness and pride –not without some suspicion- that the two were taking it so well and had even taken it upon themselves to become friends. They then proceeded to inform the two that they would come up to the stage with Sirius escorting Alice as was proper. They would come up when called. And with that, the two women swept off to the stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Loraine Jenkins began. "Lady Walburga Black and I are honored by your attendance at this Convention that we had called."

"They called this?" Sirius whispered. "Wonder why." AJ just shrugged.

"We have called this gathering to make a very special, very important announcement." Mrs. Black continued for Mrs. Jenkins. "Sirius, Alice, will you please ascend the stage."

Though AJ winced at the sound of her name, she did in fact take the arm Sirius offered her. They began their slow accent to the stage. They were about halfway when they both began to get nervous.

"You don't think it is about marriage, do you Sirius?" AJ whispered.

"No. It can't be. They wouldn't do something like that."

"Your right. They would never force us to get married." They both knew that they were in denial as they took their final steps onto the stage and into their places.

"We would like to announce the betrothal of Sirius Orion Black and Alice Marie Jenkins.

There was a collective, polite gasp. This was immediately followed by applause. _What the HELL is the big deal with this betrothal thing? _As everyone quieted down as once more Loraine Jenkins stepped forward.

"Their marriage is to form an immense bond of trust and love between our two families..." This was as far as she got before with a gasp of realization the two children looked at each other and promptly fainted off of the stage.


	4. Chapter 4

YAY new chapter :D Just as a warning, chapters after this one are gonna get a lot darker, so please, if you don't want to, or aren't supposed to read torture/pain/rated M fics, after this chapter, stop reading. Thanks:DDD OH and don't forget to review. i need them!

AJ slowly came to in a blindingly white room. _Am I in heaven? _She blinked slowly as the room came into focus, not that there was much to see. A white ceiling directly above her, and as she turned her head, a white side table with a white lamp and a white marble pitcher upon it. As she sat up she saw that the room had six identical areas in it; three on her wall and three on the wall opposite. As she glanced around, directly across from her something black started moving on the white pillow.

Abruptly the white sheets were shoved aside and a familiar person sat up. They two betrothed children stared at each other for a moment before screaming. They promptly fell off of their respective beds, trying anything to avoid each other. Unfortunately for them they fell off onto the same side, forcing themselves to see each other. In a final mad attempt to escape AJ tried rolling under the bed, which was a mere 2 inches from the ground, and Sirius tried rolling through the bedside table.

They slowly rose to their feet gripping their heads tightly. They glared warily at their counterpart before carefully making their ways forward. When they were 1 foot apart they began examining each other. Finally AJ spoke.

"Nope, I'm in hell." After those words the conversation became unintelligible.

"I refuse to marry you."

"Yeah well you're-"

"Your just not my-"

"Of course-"

"Why did this-"

"How could they-"

After several minutes of similar rambling they had finally calmed down slightly.

"Whatever happened to the cute prince that would come for me?"

"I don't know- Wait a minute! I am too cute!"

"Are not."

"I know you think I am."

"Do not!"

"Then why were you giving me that "you are damn FINE look earlier? We BOTH know that I am, so stop denying it."

AJ suddenly became very amused and asked hesitantly, "Did- did you just call _yourself_ fine?"

"Yah, why wouldn't I?"

AJ was speechless. She sat there giving Sirius an odd look for a few minutes, giving them enough time to begin calming down. They began to think over the day's events. Or at least that's what AJ did. Sirius was too busy watching AJ out of the corner of his eye. It was then that the oddest thing happened.

"We shouldn't be fighting each other over this." Sirius said cautiously.

"Why not?"

"Well because I didn't do this and you didn't do this, but we both know who did." At Sirius's words AJ began to smirk.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" They both began simultaneously.

"Yep." They said smugly at the same time.

"We need to get pranking." They both finished simultaneously.

A small giggle filled the room AJ turned to glare at Sirius, saying, "Why the hell are you laughing at me? You said the same thing I did!"

"I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

"I didn't laugh at you." He pointed to the doorway. "He did." AJ swung around and there, hands over his mouth in an attempt to stifle his giggles, was James.

"What is your problem?" AJ demanded. He could hold it no longer. James burst out laughing. Sirius and AJ looked at each other in confusion.

Finally he choked out, "Y-you guys are so… weird!"

"What?!" Sirius and AJ cried in unison.

Then Sirius whispered behind his hand, "If anything he's weird."

"Yah I know," AJ whispered back, "nothing was even funny!"

James continued laughing. "First you two faint off a stage. Then you just see each other and start screaming." He giggles for a few more minutes. "Then you fall off your beds in the same direction, still squealing!" He sniggers. "Then you smash your heads into solid things and are all like, 'ow!' and you start acting all dizzy. Then you argue and are nice and argue some more."

Finally James had gotten himself under control though his face still contained a huge, goofy grin. AJ and Sirius gazed at James for a moment then began to giggle themselves. Once they had all calmed down they plopped down on AJ's bed.

"So should we get to your revenge?" James questioned.

"All I've got with me are a moving potion and a color-change potion." AJ sighed. The two looked at her in awe.

"How the Hell did you get those?" they asked.

AJ smirked. "A witch never tells her secrets. "After a few minutes of begging she gave in. "Well three days ago my mother beheaded my puppy," James gasped in shock while Sirius just sat emotionless. "Of course I was a little upset at her," AJ continued, "so when my parents went up to bed I snuck down to a potion closet near our kitchen where the _best_ potion are. The door was locked. I had no idea what to do next so, like a '_proper pureblood'_ I _ordered_ it to open. The door blew right off its hinges. It's good our manor is huge. My parents never heard a thing. Anyway, I grabbed as many potions as I could carry and snuck back to my wing. I hid them all in this one secret room. These two were the only one's I could get here."

Sirius sat up from where he was lounging on her pillow. "You know James, we stored a lot of Filibuster's Fireworks here last year. Maybe now is the time to put them to use."

James's eyes started to gleam. "I've got an idea." The others turned to look at him.

"Well?" they said at the same time.

James gave them an odd look. "You know that's starting to creep me out right?"

"What's starting to creep you out?" They said at the same time.

"That!"

"What?" they asked.

"How you guys are always saying the same thing at the same time!"

"What?! No we don't." they said. AJ and Sirius looked at each other. "Wow, guess we do." The two children burst out laughing.

Suddenly AJ stopped and said, "Now James, what was your idea?"

"Oh! Yeah, well I was thinking we use the motion potion to- shut up Sirius!" Sirius had begun to giggle.

"But it rhymes! 'Motion' and 'potion' rhyme!"

AJ glared at him and he immediately shut his mouth.

"As I was saying," James continued, "we use the motion potion to send the fireworks up to the ceiling of the ballroom.

"Oh I have an idea!" AJ and Sirius said. They glanced at each other again. AJ gave Sirius a glare.

"How 'bout you go first AJ," Sirius said with a forced grin.

"Well, how about we soak the fireworks in color potion so that-What is your problem thistime Sirius?" Sirius giggled again.

"Color and potion! Hee hee. They rhyme!" AJ gave James a startled look.

"Um, Sirius?" James cautiously began, "Color and potion do not rhyme."

Sirius looked crestfallen. "They don't?"

"No. They don't."

"Oh."

"Yeah..."

"Damn."

"Yeah...Oh well, AJ just keep going."

"With what?"

James shot her a startled look this time. "You're prank?"

"What prank? OH! That one!"

"How can you- never mind, just say your idea for the prank."

"I forgot."

"What?"

"Really. I did."

"No you didn't." Sirius interjected.

"Yeah I did!"

"Didn't!"

"Did!"

James, seeing where this was going, interrupted, "You said something about your color potion."

"Oh! Now I remember! You soak the fireworks in color potion so that when it explodes everyone and everything will change color."

"Hey wait a minute! That was my idea!" yelled Sirius.

"Then why didn't you say it?"

"Cause you were gonna kill me if I did."

"Nuh uh!"

"Yah huh!

"Sirius! AJ! SHUT UP!" To be heard over the two children's arguing James was forced to scream. "Ok," he said sweetly, "Now that we're all quiet… I agree to the prank."

AJ sat up. "Me too!"

"Count me in!"

The three kids promptly set about arranging it. They almost had everything in order when Walburga Black and Loraine Jenkins threw open the door to the infirmary.

"Sirius, Alice, please come here," Mrs. Jenkins commanded sweetly.

The two children shoved their pranking items into James's hands and made their ways warily to the door. Mrs. Black tugged the two out of the door and down the hall. They heard Mrs. Jenkins say, "Don't worry Mr. Potter. They shall be back in no time." Before they were shoved into an empty room.

Meanwhile with Robyn and Remus

Robyn was incredibly confused and this bothered her. She was never confused. She kept her eyes open, nothing ever went past her, but this time, obviously she had missed something.

Everything had been just fine for these past two days, she and Remus were rapidly becoming the best of friends, but she had noticed how he was quickly becoming more and more sick. What she didn't understand was why this didn't bother him at all. He seemed almost to expect it. The other thing that she found a little strange was that his father also didn't seem too worried. If she had been as sick as Remus now looked, her mother would have been frantic. Something was not right.

The four of them had met on the way to a week-long summer get-away located in a large magical building in London. Apparently Robyn's mother and Remus's father had been friends in Hogwarts back in the day and upon seeing each other on the Knight Bus had been shocked to learn they were going to the same place. They were thrilled to introduce their quiet, highly intelligent children, hoping that they would become friends and help each other through the rapidly deteriorating situation at Hogwarts.

Both children had been warned countless times that Hogwarts was becoming very dangerous for those with any muggle parents. A terrorist group led by a man named Lord Voldemort had just emerged this year, and already he had killed many muggleborns and half bloods. For Remus and Robyn this hit very close to home. Remus's mother was a muggle as was Robyn's father. They were going to have to watch their backs.

She slowly walked down the hallway leading to Remus and his father's room. The light was slowly dying from the sky and she wanted to ask Remus if he wanted to go down for the moonlit swim located in the room off of the lobby. There was a rumor that there were going to be a few Hippocampuses (Half horse and half giant fish) for the kids to ride. She carefully knocked on the door and waited…and waited…and waited some more. Finally she was forced to conclude that no one was there. Disappointed, she turned and went back to the room she shared with her mother. For some reason she didn't feel much like going for a swim anymore.

Margaret Douglas, Robyn's mother, realized something was off immediately as Robyn entered the room.

"Love, what's wrong?"

"Do you know where Remus and Mr. Lupin went? They aren't in their room."

"Oh, I'm sorry I forgot to mention, John said that they had somewhere to be for tonight, and he'd return in about an hour. He said he wasn't too sure when Remus would be back, but he hoped it would be within the next two days."

"Oh…well I think I'll go out for a walk then."

"Alright love. Be careful."

"I will mum." Robyn quickly exited the room, the wheels in her head turning. Where did they have to go that was so important that they had to leave the retreat? Why hadn't Remus told her he'd be leaving? She had thought he trusted her! Why didn't any of this make sense!

Robyn needed to walk when there was a problem she couldn't solve, and so that's exactly what she did. She walked. She went upstairs as far as she could go, and then she turned around and went down. The building went surprisingly low into the ground, but then again, it was a magical building, there were no limits to what it could do.

Suddenly she reached a closed door. When she tried to turn the handle she realized that it was locked. Frustrated, she sat and glared at the door.

"How is unlocking the door coming little mudblood?" came the mocking voice of a young man behind her.

Robyn jumped to her feet and spun around. "Who are you?" she asked slowly.

"Me? My name's Carran. Carran Avery. I'm going into my third year at Hogwarts. Who might you be?"

"Robyn Douglas." She replied, still wary.

"Ah. And you're friends with the Lupin boy right? What are you doing all the way down here?"

"I- well I was walking."

Carran laughed. "Of course. Do you want to go back up with me? I'm sure I would be much better company."

Robyn paused, thinking about his invitation. "No. I think I'll stay here a while longer."

Carran's eyes flashed a moment before a smirk came over his face. "Well in any case I'll at least help you get through this door." He pulled out a wand and cast a quick spell and Robyn heard the lock click open.

"Thank you, but won't you get in trouble? My mother said we can't use magic outside of school until we're older."

Carran again laughed. "The Ministry wouldn't dare mess with my family. Don't worry about me. You'd better watch your own back little mudblood. Things aren't safe for you anymore. There are plenty of people who wouldn't hesitate to do things to hurt you. Not everyone is as nice as me." With that he left, still laughing.

Robyn watched him go before turning around and cautiously entering the pitch black hallway. She walked in the dark a while longer before faintly hearing howls of what sounded like an animal in pain. She hurried forward with her hand on the wall to avoid getting lost. She could tell she was getting closer. Suddenly a flickering light turned on about 20 yards in front of her. Robyn stopped abruptly, afraid she had been found, but no one emerged. After a few minutes she moved forward, the howls were deafening now. Ahead she saw iron bars forming the front of a cage and something inside was moving around and was the source of all of the howling.

She closed the last few yards quickly and was shocked at what she saw inside. It was a boy. A boy who wasn't quite human. He wasn't quite shaped the same and he was sprouting hair. He looked up at her with a gaze filled with pain, shame, and sadness.

"_Remus?"_


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: So here we go with chapter five. Thanks to all the people who have put this story on alert :D it makes me soooooooo happy you have no idea. BUT onto the chapter, this one brings in a bit of torture/pain. That's my only warning to you. I actually am liking this chapter and how it turned out, so reviews are even more important! I'd love to hear some ideas! I'm thinking that within the next 2 or 3 chapters they'll be headed off to Hogwarts. I mayyy introduce Lily in before...who knows. PLEASE gimme some feedback!!!

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The room was made entirely of rough stone blocks. There wasn't a single item of furniture, and there were no windows. The door slammed shut and they knew that any hopes of this being a pleasant meeting were gone.

Because they knew that they were in huge trouble, AJ and Sirius slowly turned to their mothers, faces filled with fear. Their mothers' faces were images of pure fury. There was no way they would get out of this meeting unscathed. After what seemed an eternity, Mrs. Jenkins broke the silence.

"How _dare_ you?!" she shrieked. "How dare you disgrace us and your entire family!" She breathed heavily for a moment and AJ took this as her chance to attempt to save the situation.

"Mother, I- "

"Don't even _think_ about interrupting me you ungrateful little bitch!" Mrs. Jenkins raised her hand and slapped her across the face. AJ brought her hand up to her cheek and failed in an attempt to keep down tears. "That is your problem. You are _weak_! You cry over getting slapped, you are a pitiful excuse of a daughter. Of a Jenkins! You'd be better off _dead_!" Then the word both children had been dreading slipped from her lips as she raised her wand to point at AJ. "_Crucio!_"

For a moment it looked as if AJ was holding it back as her jaw clenched tighter and tighter in an ugly grimace, but all too soon her mouth opened and she released an unearthly scream. She began trembling. Her eyes were glazed over as the pain of ten thousand white-hot knives pressed into every square inch of her small fragile-looking frame. She fell to the ground, as her body's ability to control itself was lost. Tears were pouring from her eyes and her breath was coming in ragged gasps.

Sirius watched horrified as this continued for many long minutes. Finally when it seemed that AJ would no longer keep her sanity, Sirius gained enough courage to speak up, "Mrs. Jenkins, please, please stop! She won't stay sane if you don't. Her life will be over! You'll have to have her housed in Saint Mungo's. I'm begging you, please stop Mrs. Jenkins!" He began to feel tears stream down his own cheeks as he witnessed the torture of his new friend. He saw her slowly becoming less and less responsive. The pain was too much for her body to handle. Only the spell kept her conscious. "Mrs. Jenkins!" he yelled.

The yell was enough to make her lose her concentration and drop the spell. AJ quickly fell unconscious now that she was released. Sirius ran to her and fell to his knees beside her. "AJ, please, please be ok," he murmured. "You can't let those fucking bitches we call mothers beat you!" He was merely rewarded with a groan from AJ as she began waking. Then he felt a hand grip his ear in a bruising hold. He was dragged to his feet.

"You think that you'll get away with interrupting Loraine do you boy? I believe you're past due for your turn. You are as much of a disgrace as that little bint. _Crucio!_"

Sirius barely had time to draw a breath before the pain was upon him. He tried to hold in the screams as pure agony tore through him. His skin felt as though it was tearing back from his bones and his organs felt as though they wanted to squeeze through his flesh. The pain was more immense than he had ever felt. This was worse than any of his past punishments. He just wanted to die. It seemed like the pain would never cease and he felt himself beginning to go unconscious. He fell to his knees but before he could fall to the ground two small hands grasped his shoulders and helped lay him back carefully upon the course stones.

AJ watched in fury as her friend was subjected to the same treatment she had received. Her eyes flashed once, twice and then flamed red. As Sirius's eyes glazed over she threw herself to her feet and forced her traitorous body to support her weight. "Stop! Right now! I swear you stupid ugly bitch I will slap you if you don't stop immediately!" she tried to yell, though her hoarse voice would only go to a slight whisper. AJ stepped forward slowly, but could not stand the exertion. She fell. As she dropped she grabbed onto Mrs. Black's arm, dragging the woman off balance. This small act was enough to release Sirius from the spell, though AJ only had enough time to see Sirius fall unconscious before the murderous women both turned their wands upon her. Once again AJ was forced to endure the effects of "_Crucio"_ though this time was ten times worse as two separate people performed it at once.

AJ's head felt as though it would split in half. She so desperately wanted to leave the pain behind that she begged aloud for the women to just kill her. She constantly begged, "Please, kill me! Just kill me!" The pain was too much. She was past tears. Her body began shutting down; her nose bled, her ears went deaf, her eyesight was lost. There was nothing left. Even her sense of pain was fading. She was going numb, and she welcomed it. Suddenly the burning stopped. The pain was gone. The women had stopped the spell and she fell unconscious.

Sirius was staring in horror at AJ. He had become conscious just as they had stopped the spell. They had quickly left telling him to watch over the "little bitch." He dragged his body over to AJ's unconscious form. "AJ? AJ don't leave me," he begged, his already ragged voice cracking. "I need you here. Whatever happens I'll stay and watch over you. You don't have to worry. Everything will turn out ok in the end." Ten minutes later AJ groaned and her eyes slid open a crack. Suddenly they shot wide and she jumped. Frantically she began waving her hands in front of her eyes. Sirius grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes prepared to smile. Then he gasped. Her eyes were dilated farther than he had thought possible. He could barely make out the rings of color around her pupils. They were pale yellow, nearly white. He had no idea what was wrong. Was she blind? "AJ! AJ, I'm here! What's wrong?"

Slowly she croaked, "Wh- who is th-" she coughed, "this? I- I can't see! Why can't I hear? Where am I?" Her voice became stronger as her fear grew.

Sirius's eyes filled with tears as stroked her hand trying to comfort her as her pupils slowly went back to normal. She still couldn't hear, but fifteen minutes later her perfect vision had returned. Tears streamed down her own face as she realized who held her hand. He helped her to sit up and she immediately threw her arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder. All of a sudden AJ drew back, swiping at her tears frantically.

"If you DARE tell-" she began.

"Don't worry. I won't." She visibly relaxed. Moments later they realized that AJ was still lying in Sirius's arms. She blushed and pushed backwards, but Sirius only tightened his grip. He continued sneaking odd glances at her for a while.

Finally AJ could stand it no longer. "Sirius, do you have something to say?" AJ croaked.

Sirius jumped. "Well, no, yes, um yes."

"Well which is it?"

"I have something to ask you."

"Yes?"

"Will you," he paused. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

AJ looked up shocked for a moment, and then she smiled nervously up at Sirius. "Sure."

Sirius grinned down at her happily and they stayed like that for a while. Then they heard two sets of heels click down towards their lone room.

The two children scrambled to their feet, but stayed within an arm's reach of each other. The door flew open and in walked a small house elf. They sighed in relief. Then their mothers walked in. The two women smirked evilly.

"Well, well, well looks like you two are a bit more comfortable." Mrs. Black hissed.

"And yet I doubt you two will behave any better." Mrs. Jenkins said with disgust.

"Well of course we can fix that. You first? Or me?" asked Mrs. Black.

"I think we should do it at the same time."

"Good idea."

"3…" The women raised their wands.

"2…" They aimed them at Sirius and AJ.

"1…" Sirius and AJ each took a step backwards, eyes widening in fear.

Robyn and Remus

"_Remus?_" Robyn exclaimed in shock.

He looked away and then began to convulse. Worried, she ran forward and fell to her knees grabbing onto the bars, only to fall backwards went he turned his head letting loose a deep growl.

"You- you don't want me to come near you?" she asked shakily.

He stopped growling and lowered his head. Suddenly he began shaking again. She watched as he grew more fur and his face's shape began to be altered. With pity in her eyes she was forced to sit back and watch as he bit at his own arms as they too changed shape. It seemed like much longer, but she sat there with him throughout the entire hour long transformation.

As soon as the transformation was complete, he sat up sniffing the air and he turned toward her. She watched from the other side of the iron bars as the huge wolf stalked toward her. All of a sudden he made a leap for her, shoving his jaws as far forward as he could. She leapt backwards as his fangs closed on where she had been sitting right next to the bars. His ethereal howl echoed through the dark hallway. Then he launched himself at the walls, before beginning to run faster than anything she had ever seen before around his small cell. His sporadic, ferocious actions continued throughout the night as Robyn sat watching him with rapt fascination.

It was just before sunrise when she realized that his actions had switched from that of a crazed predator to that of a puppy trying to show off. He started watching for her reactions to what he did, and repeated those actions that she seemed to find entertaining. He even went so far as to attempt to roll over for her. This however was brought to a halt as the shuddering began again.

Again Robyn watched on as he went through the transformation, this time back into a human. When he finally was back to normal he looked up at her with tears in his eyes.

"Remus what's wrong?"

"Aren't- aren't you afraid to be around me? Why aren't you leaving?" he stammered as the tears started flowing down his cheeks.

"Remus Lupin, do you really think that low of me? Just because you have a little bit of a problem doesn't mean I'm just going to go running away!" she cried.

"A little bit? A _problem_? Robyn, I'm a _werewolf_ I am _dangerous_! I could hurt you!"

"I believe I just sat through an entire night where you didn't hurt me."

"Only because I was on the other side of these bars!"

"I don't care. You are my best friend. I won't give you up that easy."

"Don't say that! Never say that! I don't- you have to go! I don't want to be responsible for hurting you, ever. One day you might not meet me with bars in between. It's just not safe. I shouldn't have even let us be friends this long. We're going to have to leave each other alone one day anyways.

Robyn moved up to the bars and held a hand through them toward him. Nervous and confused he reached up shakily and took it in his own.

"Remus. I swear to you, I am not going anywhere."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: OK. Longer chapter this time. I hope you guys keep on reviewing. Next chapter I'll try to focus a bit more on Robyn/Remus and Lily/Snape...I'm gonna try to get to the train in two chapters, so the next one might be a bit longer and take me a little longer to get out :/ maybe if you all review i'll get it out a bit faster ;)

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AJ felt as though she were on Cloud Nine. Nothing could bother her now, and yet something didn't feel quite right. Suddenly a voice spoke through the haze.

"Walk closer to Sirius and elegantly put your arm forward for him to take. Allow him to escort you to dinner."

AJ immediately obliged and like a perfect gentleman, Sirius took her arm. They were quickly cleaned up and then they made their way to dinner like royalty. A house elf announced them and they swept in. The giant hall now contained a variety of tables. Many small two to five person tables littered the edges of the room, the tables got steadily larger as they made their way toward the stage where an enormous table was made for the families of the hosts. Nearly all seats were full by now. It now was obvious just how many pure bloods were present. There were thousands. Many were from other countries and surprisingly they all seemed to know each other. Everyone's eyes followed the young couple from the moment they entered the room.

AJ and Sirius moved gracefully with carefully etched expressions of comfort and happiness. They made their way to their seats near their mothers' vacant seats and Sirius pulled out AJ's chair. She sat, thanking him graciously. Soon after, Mrs. Black and Mrs. Jenkins strode through the double doors. Their eyes swept the room. Their eyes rested on the two children and, spotting no concerns, the two women allowed small smirks to grace their features.

Across the room James narrowed his eyes. He found it very odd that Sirius and AJ were acting so proper. They even had the pureblood smirk. It wasn't like them at all. They had never let themselves look or act like this before. James was also unnerved by the self-assured looks that the two older women bore. No mother of Sirius _or _AJ should ever look self-assured, let alone at the same time. Those two are too unpredictable for any parent to be at ease.

As the house-elves brought in the food James continued to stare at his friends. His prediction was proved correct about halfway through the meal. As the two children's mothers became increasingly more absorbed in their surrounding conversations the two children stiffened. James watched with interest, as this was the first time the two had acted different from the surrounding purebloods since they had reentered the room. He watched as the two gave each other a small glance and began to jerkily reach for their glasses of pumpkin juice. With one last jerk each, they both knocked their glasses over, successfully pouring the orange liquid onto their mothers' laps.

The two outraged women grabbed their wands and muttered something under their breaths. Sirius and AJ immediately leaped to their feet and stopped snickering.

"I am so sorry mother!"

"Mother, I apologize!"

The two rang out over the now silent hall. James could almost pick out a hint of sarcasm in their voices, but if it was there it was very subtle. He longed for them to act like themselves; acting so stuck up seemed unnatural for them.

With a muttered spell the two women were clean and dry. They turned and smiled a very fake smile at their children.

"It is quite all right. No harm was done."

"It was only a mistake."

Sirius and AJ, still apologizing, sat back down. Eventually the hall settled back into a tone of easy conversation, and the meal ended with no further mishaps. As the meal finished up Sirius and AJ made their way up to the stage, arm-in-arm. James elbowed his way through the crowd, desperate to reach them and find out what was wrong. He was too late however, because Sirius began to speak over the crowd.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I would first like to apologize for my own, and my betrothed's atrocious actions. Upon hearing that we were finally to be considered betrothed we were overcome by such joy. We were entirely unprepared for the emotion and thus proceeded to faint. We felt the need to ascend to the stage to make sure that you understand that we are thrilled with this development. We wouldn't want you to get the wrong impression."

James gaped in shock. There was no way that this was Sirius Black, and yet it _had_ to be. It would have been impossible to make a copy that exact. The same hair, the same face, the same height. The eyes were the same, yet there was something different, almost as though Sirius's normal attitude wasn't being displayed through them. His eyes seemed colder, more _pureblood_, in every bad sense of the word.

The only reason he had even begun to doubt Sirius's identity was the person behind the appearance. The Sirius he knew would never have spoken so properly. The Sirius he knew would never have that cold, indifferent, arrogant look upon his face. The Sirius he knew would never have gone this long without teasing, humiliating, or pranking someone. The Sirius he knew could never have kept a straight face for this long. The Sirius he knew-

James's thoughts were cut short as he saw AJ step forward on the stage. He let out a mental groan. He had a feeling that this would be no better than Sirius's speech. She gave a bright smile. Immediately James could tell that this wasn't the AJ he knew, and he hadn't even known her that long. She was acting too… _girly_.

"Because we so rudely interrupted our mothers earlier this evening, one or two important announcements were forgotten. First I would like to address the date of our (James could swear he heard a barely perceptible pause) marriage. The wedding will occur during the summer after our seventh year at Hogwarts. The wedding must be placed at this time so that both Sirius and I are of age. Everyone in attendance tonight is invited and encouraged to come. Now I'm sure all of you would like to get back to your entertainments. We would like to thank you for attending tonight and also for your attention."

Sirius carefully helped AJ off of the stage. This alone was suspicious. AJ would never let Sirius help her. Sirius then escorted AJ out of the room. Their progress was extremely slow as nearly everyone seemed to stop them to offer congratulations. James followed at a short distance. He watched as they graciously smiled, shook hands, and nodded at all of the right moments. He continued trailing them as they made their way out of the hall and down into the white room. Though James walked through the door mere moments after them he saw that they were already seated in a white loveseat.

James stomped over to them. "What is _wrong_ with you two?"

"Whatever do you mean James?" AJ asked.

"Why are you acting so proper? You aren't… right!"

"James, Alice and I are perfectly fine. We have only accepted that we are to be married," Sirius said calmly.

"I guess that makes sense- HEY! Wait! That proves it! AJ would never let you call her Alice! You're both acting brainwashed. What happened to you two?"

"Nothing has happened. Our mothers just convinced us that this is what is best for us."

"Exactly. Now, what should we do?"

James sighed, slightly giving in. Maybe they were the same. They were stubborn enough. "I guess we could play a game."

"Like what?" AJ asked.

James suddenly grinned. "How about 'Truth or Dare'?" he asked.

"Sure, why not." They both said.

"Me first though," James cried.

"Fine."

"Hmm," James said, acting as though he were thinking hard. Suddenly he spun and pointed to AJ. "AJ! Truth or dare?"

AJ jumped. Her eyes flicked back and forth, "Um, truth."

James smirked. "Ok, well, answer me truthfully, what were you and Sirius doing while you two were away? You were gone quite a while and I saw your mothers walk past and leave you two alone for probably ten minutes."

AJ stared James in the face for a moment, her face perfectly empty of emotion. Then she smiled just as she had up on the stage and replied, "We were bonding. Our mothers told us that there was no way to escape our marriage and so Sirius and I decided that we should get used to being together. Our mothers left us alone so that we could be together for a bit."

Her answer actually sounded plausible to him. His resolve in his argument was beginning to waver. What could he do if they had decided to become just like all of the other pureblood children out there. He sighed, nearly defeated. His friends were changing, and not for the better.

"So, Sirius, truth or dare?" he heard AJ say quietly. He looked up.

"Dare. I mean, I'd do whatever you say. I lo-" Sirius's face scrunched up and he stopped speaking. A moment later his face relaxed and he smiled his old smile. He walked over and looked her in the eyes. Then he continued. "I think I could possibly love you someday, but only you. Not this puppet you are now."

AJ suddenly stumbled forward. He grabbed her shoulders and steadied her. "S- Sirius, is it actually you? Do you really?"

He nodded slightly, "Well I think so at least. I don't know. It's really confusing. One day I bet I will."

AJ hugged Sirius, "Me too."

Sirius gaze became frantic. "AJ? Are you sure you're you? I mean, you're kinda hugging me."

She pulled back slightly. "Yes I'm me. Of course I'm hugging you. I like you, you idiot, and I'm your girlfriend."

"Well if that's the case," Sirius smirked, "then hug me all you want babe." He grabbed her arms, pulled her close, and squeezed her with all of his might. AJ giggled and tried to shove away. After a moment of struggle she hugged him back. They stood like that unmoving for a moment before someone cleared their throat. The two looked over. James was standing there with an incredulous look upon his face.

"Back up." He said. "You two are boyfriend and girlfriend? I doubt it. I really don't think that you two are actually you. So I want you to prove it."

"Prove what?"

"Prove that you two are you and that you are boyfriend and girlfriend."

"How can we prove that we're boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Kiss."

"Kiss?"

"Kiss. Well, more than that. You two have to _snog_."

"WHAT?" AJ and Sirius yelled.

"You heard me."

The unfortunate two turned their heads to stare at each other. Slowly they leaned in and brought their lips together. They both gasped and leapt backwards blushing.

"Oh come on!" James said. "That wasn't good enough."

"Potter I'm going to kill you one day." Sirius said.

The two moved together again. This time they brought their lips together quicker. Sirius moved his arms around her waist comfortably and AJ brought her hands up to rest on his shoulders. This lasted a few seconds before they pulled apart. As they stood side-by-side Sirius kept his arm around AJ's waist.

"Well I believe that proves it," Sirius said.

AJ smirked as James remained speechless. After a few minutes of watching James struggle AJ and Sirius looked at each other once again. AJ quickly brought her lips to Sirius's and pulled back. He looked shocked. Then he smirked and kissed her. Their little fight lasted a bit longer. James brought it to an end however.

"Alright already! I get the picture! You two are boyfriend and girlfriend, but earlier Sirius swore he would never kiss AJ so this makes me doubt at least _his_ identity. Then AJ is just acting really weird. I can't even describe it… you just are acting kinda girly I guess, which is not like the you I've known for these few hours." He paused for a breath but before he could continue he was interrupted.

"Well I can easily prove that I am me." Sirius said.

"And how is that?" James asked.

"Once upon a time, last year to be exact, wittle Jamesy had a friend over to spend the night. This friend carefully placed Jamesy's hand into a glass of water as he slept. The next morning Jamesy found that he had wet the bed. He had no idea why he had, or who had done it, but he was so upset that he proceeded to snap his broom in half. Jamesy was then so upset that his mum had to go out and buy a new one that very same day. The end." Sirius looked over to see James was being held in place by AJ, her hand over his mouth so that she could hear the story. After he had finished AJ released James and gripped her sides as she laughed.

James stood still for a minute, rubbing his mouth. "AJ," he whined. "That really hurt."

Just as she was about to retort Sirius spoke up. "Honey you can be as rough as you want with me."

James and AJ looked at him in amazement.

"How is it that you can be this perverted and be only eleven?" AJ asked.

"Well darling, how is it that you can be as violent and crazy as you are and be only eleven?"

"He has a point."

"I hate it when he has a point."

"No sweetie you love it."

"AAGGGHHH! Stop with the stupid names!" AJ groaned as she flopped down on the nearest bed.

"Wow I bet it won't be long before you two are just like all those other gross couples, doing stuff at conventions." James muttered.

"I wouldn't want to do that at this place." AJ said without thinking. She clapped her hand over her mouth, mortified.

The two boys stared at her in shock. Sirius recovered first. He made his way carefully towards her. The bed sunk down as he sat beside AJ. "AJ," he began. "Where would you want to do it?"

She glanced up, furious into his joking face. After a moment she calmed down and her lips formed a dainty smirk. "I'll do it where ever you want to _baby_." She said in a whisper as she leaned forward.

Sirius stared at her in shock, his mouth opening and closing. Finally he leaned in and said, "Nice come-back Hun."

"Who said anything about a come-back? I wasn't trying to make a come-back," AJ said with an innocent smile, following by kissing him.

Once again Sirius was surprised, but this time he grinned and kissed her again. This went on back and forth for a few more moments before James got sick and tired of this. He shoved them apart and sat in between them.

"Ok, ok! Enough already! My Merlin, you've only been going out for a few hours at most! You're just being disgusting. You two need to back off from each other. From now on you two are not allowed anywhere alone."

"Aw, come on!"

"Please!"

"No! What is wrong with you two? Honestly."

The group sat in unhappy silence for about five minutes. They shifted around uncomfortably. Carefully, AJ and Sirius slid their arms around behind James and quietly held hands. Then James jumped up.

"What time is it?"

Sirius glanced up. "I don't know, but it must be getting late."

"Well we'd better hurry and do our prank then."

"Oh! Right!" AJ cried, jumping to her feet. "Let's get going!"

THREE HOURS LATER

Everything was set up. The three mischievous children had found a staircase leading up to a balcony overlooking the main ballroom. The fireworks had now been soaking in the color potion for 20 minutes and they were just waiting for the clock to strike midnight before they poured the drops of motion-inducing potion onto the fireworks.

5 minutes…They began their countdown.

4 minutes…The potion bottle was opened.

3 minutes…The three began eagerly looking over the balcony railing.

2 minutes to go and things were looking good.

Then 1 minute and 30 seconds rolled along and everything went to hell.

"Ah what do we have here? The three wittle brats Auntie Wally was looking for."

The three children spun around. There standing in the door was a beautiful young woman leaning smugly against the wall at the head of the stairs. Her sleek black hair was a curtain framing her face. Amusement shone in her heavily lidded eyes.

"Bella! Please! Just for once don't ruin everything!" cried Sirius softly.

"Hm…" the woman tapped a long finger slowly on her cheek in contemplation. "Let me think about that. Help you to cause mayhem and in turn incur the wrath of my own parents, or turn you in and get to watch your punishments…"

AJ, seeing where this was going, edged closer to the fireworks. Their prank would go forward. Suddenly her movement froze against her will.

The black haired witch laughed. "You really thought I'd let you do that? Honey you're more stupid than your mother let on. What is it she said? Oh! 'Bellatrix, go find my moronic little bitch and make sure she and your cousin aren't doing something else to fuck up our families' reputations.' And look what I found! Exactly that."

Sirius took a step forward before, with a wave of Bellatrix's wand, he too was immobile.

"Oh dearest cousin, you know me better than that! Thank god I'm out of school and can use magic whenever I please. Now, how to best orchestrate this…" She looked up lazily at James. "You'd best run along little blood traitor. Wouldn't want you to see anything that might bother your lovely parents now would we." When it became obvious he wasn't going anywhere her face contorted a bit. "If your family wasn't so high in the Ministry… Merlin damn you Muggle-huggers. Go!"

As brave as James pretended to be, Bellatrix was a terrifying woman. He ran out the door and down the steps, continuing until he was forced to pause gasping for breath somewhere on the opposite end of the building.

"What do I do?" he muttered angrily. "I could go back…No. She might not let me leave again. I could get help…No. That doesn't work. What could they do?"

James began to pace. James was a smart boy, but this was a bit over his head. Saving two preteens from the evil wrath of their parents was more than he had ever had to handle before.

Suddenly he heard a group heading toward him. He jumped back into the shadows behind a conveniently placed statue of a sphinx. Peering around he saw a group of three people who looked to be about Bellatrix's age.

"Rabastan, Rodolphus, why does Bella want us to join her now?" whined a stick-like pale, blond girl.

"Because her aunt asked her to make sure her cousin and his betrothed were behaving, and to bring them to her at the first sign of trouble. You know she loves to play with her food first. Though I'm sure this won't be nearly as much fun as we were having back there." Rabastan winked at the blond. The girl giggled and it wasn't long before they were out of sight.

James thought for a moment, digging his hands into his pockets. He had to have some trick up his sleeve. He couldn't just leave them to the mercy of Bellatrix. That would be like putting them to their deaths. He was standing there wasting a few precious seconds when he realized what exactly was in his pocket. It was then that he began to smirk. Suddenly, things didn't look quite so grim for his two friends.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: WOW this chapter was hard to get out. I hope you all like it :-/ I did what i planned. I set everything up for Hogwarts Express next chapter! YAY. PLEASE review. It really makes me hurry along my next chapter ;)

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A flash of red flew between the trees on the edge of the thicket. Flowers bloomed and blazed with brighter colors behind it as it zigzagged around the dense underbrush. A rabbit bolted out of the way as the young girl with blazing red hair slid past it into a cool basin beside a sunlit river. She plopped down onto the ground cross-legged beside an awkward looking boy wearing very shabby looking clothing. He looked at her with veiled excitement in his eyes.

Almost as soon as she sat, the girl jumped to her feet again. "Oh my God Sev! You were right! My letter! It came and Professor Dumbledore came with it! The _Headmaster of Hogwarts_! It was unbelievable. It did take my parents a little while to accept it, but they're going to let me go!"

"That's amazing Lily. I knew you were going to get it. You didn't really believe me because of Petunia though, did you?"

"Well, she is my older sister. She's normally right. I'm supposed to trust her."

"How did she take the news?"

"She...Well, she wasn't too happy. I think she might be annoyed because she isn't a witch too."

"Oh. That's too bad for her," the young boy said, without much regret evident on his face or in his voice. "It'll be great with you going though. The train ride will be much better with a friend."

"Definitely!" Lily jumped to her feet suddenly. "Oh man! My parents want to go shopping for school supplies already, so they barely let me come tell you. I'd better get back. We have to hang out more before school starts so you can tell me _everything._ Now that I'm going to Hogwarts too I need to know as much as I can. I don't want to be too far behind everyone." Without any warning, a look of apprehension crossed her face.

"Lily?! Lils, what's wrong?" He asked worriedly, quickly getting to his feet.

"Oh Sev!" she cried as she threw herself into his arms. "I'm just scared. What if people don't like me because my parents don't have magic? I don't know _anything!_ They'll think I'm stupid!"

Severus hugged her awkwardly, patting her back. "Don't worry so much. You won't be the only muggleborn there. There are a lot that go to Hogwarts. Most of them don't even have someone to help them learn things first. And no one will think you're stupid. You're one of the smartest girls I've ever met. You'll learn really fast."

Lily stepped back with a watery smile. "Thank you. You probably think I'm silly for this."

He looked at her with an odd look in his eyes. "Of course not. I'll never think you're silly. But you need to get going so that you can get all of your things and come hang out again soon."

"You're right. Let's plan on hanging out on Thursday."

"All right. I'll see you then Lils."

Lily turned and started running back through the trees the way she had come. "Bye Sev!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"Bye Lily." He said quietly. Severus stood there for almost ten minutes before slowly lowering himself back to sit on the bright green grass of the basin floor. It wasn't until well after dark that he made his way home, slowly and with obvious foreboding.

Lily had never been this excited in her life. Last night the most phenomenal, unbelievable, magical thing had happened. A man named Professor Albus Dumbledore had come knocking at her quaint little home. This man had been anything but normal, and he came bearing some even less normal news.

"Mrs. Evans, if you would, I have a very interesting opportunity for your daughter, Ms. Lily Evans.

Mrs. Evans glanced over her shoulder to where her eleven year old daughter was watching with both excitement and worry, hidden behind the nearby staircase, and looked at the man warily. It wouldn't be smart to be too trusting of strangers in this day and age. "Excuse me sir, but first I must ask, who are you?"

"Oh please pardon my manners. My name is Albus Dumbledore and I am Headmaster at an exclusive boarding school. I have documentation right here. I can show it to you and your family if only you will allow me to discuss it with you inside." He pulled a think envelope out of one of the many pockets of his- well she could only call it a robe.

Mrs. Evans still looked a bit confused but ushered him into the living room, calling for her husband.

What followed was a lot of confusion, disbelief, anger, attempted dismissals, and then Dumbledore's calm explanation was finished and he decided that the best way to get through to these people, as it was with most families, was to show them.

"I think I must take my leave Mr. and Mrs. Evans. I can see that you do not believe the things that I am telling you. I'll just grab a cup of tea on my way out." And as he said the words, a cup of steaming hot tea popped into existence, floating in the air in front of him. The Evans's eyes all flew wide as the tea floated over and tilted itself as Professor Dumbledore drank. As he walked out of the living room a bit of tea poured over the edge of his cup. They heard his calm voice tell the droplet to stop, and to their amazement, it did. Not only did it stop, but it rose back up and fell right back into the cup. The family stared in complete awe as he stepped out into the entryway.

"Wait!" cried Mr. Evans.

Professor Dumbledore turned around with a twinkle in his eye. "Pardon?"

"Are you- Are you telling me that my own daughter will be able to- to pop things into her hands just as you did? To change things? This is why there have always been these odd things happening? The things breaking when she's mad? The balloons inflating themselves on her birthday? Our daughter has _magic?_"

"I understand that it is hard for you to believe. It is hard for every non-magical family to accept. I think it would probably be best for me to leave you to discuss it, but I must assert how imperative it is for Lily to get some education so that she learns how to control the raw magic she contains. It needs to be managed before the non-magical community discovers the magical community. Secrecy is crucial for our survival. I'll leave this envelope with her admission letter into Hogwarts, as well as instructions on how to get to Diagon Alley, one of the best magical shopping centers where you can easily find school supplies. I am looking forward to Lily's attendance at Hogwarts this year."

With some remaining confusion, the Evans family bade Dumbledore farewell, and with a slight turn, he disappeared into thin air. By this time Lily had been shaking in excitement. She really was a witch. Severus hadn't been lying this whole time. She really could do magic.

It took nearly two hours of discussion before Lily's parents agreed to allow her to go. That was followed by less than ten minutes of begging on her part to go shopping for supplies the next day. She was her parents' "little girl" after all.

James

If there was one thing that could be said about James it was that he would do anything for his friends –Well…almost anything. He probably wouldn't give up his brand new _beautiful_ Nimbus 1001, but really, who would? –That was beside the point however. His friends were in danger.

After his sudden epiphany James had hurried off to make a few necessary changes to their earlier plans. His main purpose now was not to avoid getting anyone in trouble, it was to cause enough of a distraction to free his friends, and if there was one thing he knew he could do, it was causing a massive, jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring distraction.

In a matter of minutes he was back at the white room to pick up a few things, and then he quickly arrived at the stairs leading up to the balcony. He reached into his pocket as he climbed the stairs and pulled his hand, as well as a circular object and a large vial out as he peeked out onto the balcony.

There, nearly at the railing, were Bellatrix and her three little friends, carefully spaced around Sirius and AJ. He could hear their menacing, taunting voices, but couldn't make out what they were saying. That was enough for him. They were all placed exactly as he had expected them to be. Perhaps a little too close to the fireworks, but anything better would have been too much to ask for.

Carefully, he pulled his head back and he poured the contents of his vial out onto the top step, making it into the shape of a rather wide M. Satisfied with his work, he stowed the vial back in his pocket and pulled out a new muggle toy Sirius had managed to smuggle past his parents as he pulled a large bulky cloak over his head. It had been a gift from his father this past year for his birthday. Had anyone been looking, they would have believed that the young boy disappeared into thin air, but in reality he hadn't moved an inch.

It was only when he was invisible to all others that James attempted to use Sirius's new toy. If he worked it just right, it lit itself on fire. Sirius had called it a "litter" or something. James had it figured out very quickly, despite the fact that a majority of his attention was focused on the rapidly increasing level of bullying occurring out on the balcony. He became furious when he saw Bellatrix shoot a spell across to Sirius causing him to double over in pain, but his hands remained steady as he lit the spilled potion. It quickly blazed into life and reached a few inches in height. Miraculously it stayed burning.

Fumbling, James pulled the circular object up and held it in front of his face. "Bella." He said, altering his voice to make it as deep and threatening as possible.

"Who said that?" he heard her say.

He watched as Sirius glanced questioningly down at his pocket before speaking again. "Bella. This behavior is unacceptable. You are wasting your time on Purebloods. How disappointing. "

"Where is that coming from?" the boy named Rodolphus asked.

"I don't know but it's freaking me and Sherry out," replied his brother Rabastan as the blond cowered against him.

Bellatrix was starting to look a little antsy. "Who the fuck are you? What do you want?" she said, much louder this time.

James was smirking underneath his cloak. This was just too easy. Slowly, he moved across the balcony toward the railing. He watched in satisfaction as his silence succeeded in making the four that much more nervous. Finally he lifted the object back up to his face and spoke again. "Purebloods bullying other Purebloods. It's disgusting. And here I thought you supported the old order."

"We are! These little blood traitors need to be taught a lesson. They're the ones that aren't supportive. I would die for the old ways!" cried Bellatrix passionately.

"Then leave! Leave before I decide you too need punishment." And with that, James lit the fireworks.

Bursts of color flew off in all directions, showering the crowd below in droplets of color potion as well as odd clouds of various colored smoke clouds that altered the color of whatever they touched. James, AJ, and Sirius were overjoyed at the result. There was chaos everywhere. Especially down the stairs, due to the fact that the explosion had terrified the other four to the point that they bolted out the door. Right into the flaming lines of color changing potion. They were all unable to stop in time and had run right through the flames, causing them to each begin burning a different color and, in shock, tumble down the stairs. The last the three young children saw of them was their line of rainbow smoke trailing behind them.

Sirius walked over to the newly revealed James and clapped him on the back. "Amazing execution mate, thanks. Who would have thought you could use our two-way mirrors to talk to other people. And lighting that potion. Bloody _brilliant._"

AJ ran over and tackled James to the floor in a hug. "Thank you! If I ever have to listen to another Pureblood supremacy lecture from Bella again it'll be too soon."

James was grinning madly. "No problem guys, but we'd best be moving. It's pretty obvious where those fireworks came from, and we don't want to be caught here."

"Does it really matter?" AJ asked. "Won't Bella just snitch on us?"

Sirius and James both laughed as they began walking down the stairs, being careful to avoid the flames. "And risk admitting that we bested her? No. We're safe."

Remus and Robyn

It had taken a very short amount of time for Remus to recover from his monthly-as Robyn had so teasingly dubbed it-this time. It was only three days later when they went to Diagon Alley for their school supplies, and both were incredibly excited. After arriving in Diagon Alley, they were hurried along to Ollivander's to buy their first, and hopefully only, wands.

They eased the shop door open and all four walked into the wand shop. It was fairly dark, and to the newcomers, the shelves of wand boxes seemed in disarray. They were only in the shop for moments before an old man with very eerie moon-like eyes approached them.

"Margaret Douglas, Olive, 9 ¾ inches, core of a Jobberknoll feather. John Lupin, Elm, 11 ½ inches, core of an augury feather. Both rather exceptional wands. I was hoping to see your children this year. Robyn and Remus is it not?"

Robyn and Remus both stared at the man with barely imperceptible shock before nodding slowly.

"How nice to see you again Mr. Ollivander," said Margaret.

"Yes, yes I'm sure. Let us begin shall we?" Mr. Ollivander said abruptly, already moving off. "I propose ladies first." He quickly glanced at Robyn before hurrying off down one of his many aisles. Moments later he reemerged carrying three boxes. "I assure you, it is one of these wands. First, a wand of Elder wood, it's a bit long for you at 10 ¼ inches, core of powdered hippogryph talon." He barely let the wand touch her hand before he snatched it back.

"No! No! Definitely not! I know!" and with that he ran off with all of his boxes down an entirely new aisle. Robyn looked up at her mother with wide eyes. Suddenly Mr. Ollivander was back carrying a single new box. Slowly he opened it and handed her the wand.

"A selkie whisker is the core of this one, it is just a hair over 10 inches and made of dogwood. Go on now! Give it a swish!"

And so Robyn did. A beautifully embroidered pillow appeared floating beside Mr. Ollivander's head. He grabbed it, overjoyed. "How lovely! Oh but see this pull here, I don't know that this one is exactly right for you. We'll set this one aside." He glanced over at Remus as he took the wand from her hand and put it into its box. "Hm, I wonder," he muttered as he walked down a third aisle. He was gone much longer this time before he emerged.

"This wand is an interesting one. It is made of poplar, but the tree was so entwined with a rowan tree, slivers of the rowan came with it, especially around its base. It is 9 7/8 inches long. Give it a flick my dear." Robyn quickly flicked the wand. Flowers of light bloomed in midair. There were reds, greens, purples. Nearly every color was incorporated. The flowers grew until they exploded and the light flew around the room, touching nothing until the beams zoomed toward Robyn, swirling around her head a moment before vanishing.

"Perfect!" He snatched the wand from her hand and placed it back into its box, swiftly wrapping it. Robyn felt a sense of loss.

"Sir, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what is the core? You failed to mention it." She said softly.

"Ah. My dear what a good question. Wand cores can come from any magical creature. Any at all. And because my wands pick their owners, I omitted the contents of yours until this one chose you. It is a very odd core. Your core is a powered tooth. It was the upper molar of one of the strongest werewolves in the history of Ireland." Robyn and Remus looked at each other in surprise at the irony of the situation. "And Robyn, it might do you well to read up on werewolves. The cores can affect the temperament of the wand. Yours will likely be stronger on the full moon, or perhaps just more erratic. Werewolf hair wands are known to be good for transfiguration, but so few are matched with wizards, and fewer with witches, that little is known about them."

Robyn nodded her understanding and she took the wand box from him, holding it closely to her chest. Her mother paid and they stepped back as Remus went through a very similar process. His took a lot longer, and he went through many more wands than she did. One wand in particular lit the pillow she had made on fire, incinerating it in seconds. He had looked at her apologetically, but she wasn't hurt in the least. She had thought it was a bit ugly anyways.

Finally Remus's wand "chose him" as Mr. Ollivander said. It was an 11 inch Hazel wand with a core of centaur tail (one located in the forest right outside of Hogwarts according to the old wand maker).

"That wand is for a very intelligent person. I can tell that you'll go far boy." Mr. Ollivander called as they walked out the door.

After a few minutes of giggling along with their parents about the eccentric old man, their parents told them that they could go on their own to look through a few stores. They were each given their school lists and a small pouch filled with money and were told to meet the two parents at the café across from the Flourish and Blott's bookstore at 3 o'clock. That left the two about 3 hours in which to shop and talk, and they happily took advantage of it.

Both being quite responsible, they got through the majority of their lists by 2. They had picked up quills, cauldrons, even their robes, and were still well under their allowances. Eagerly they decided to go to the bookstore early and look around. On their way in, they saw a very excited red headed girl dragging her awe-stricken parents into the bookstore. Remus and Robyn quickly followed and listened as she went on about how she just needed more books then they had bought last time in order to understand _everything_ before the school year. The parents allowed her to go off on her own and, though their curiosity was piqued, they went about their own business.

They had each gotten 3 of their school books and were laughing and talking when suddenly a quiet voice interrupted them.

"Excuse me, but I notice you've grabbed most of the books I had to get. You aren't going into first year at Hogwarts by any chance?" They turned around to see that same red headed girl looking at them shyly.

"Yes. We are actually," said Remus kindly. "My name's Remus. This is Robyn. What's your name?"

"Lily Evans. I'm new to this entire thing. Magic and everything. You two seem very nice. Maybe we can be friends and you could help explain some things to me?"

By the time it was 3 o'clock the three children were talking as though they had been friends for years, and when Remus and Robyn left to meet up with their parents they introduced them to Lily's parents. Margaret and John quickly began talking to these two overwhelmed people and began explaining many of the more general aspects of their world in an attempt to sooth their shattered nerves. After making plans to meet up on the way to sending their children on their way to Hogwarts, and a quick trip to the Magical Menagerie to pick up their pets, (A tawny, shy little owl for Remus that he promptly named Romulus and a beautiful, intelligent, silky black and gray kneazle for Robyn. They had only briefly needed to explain to Lily the difference between a kneazle and a cat before she remembered reading all about them already.) they all set off for their homes and beds.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I am SO sorry it's been so long. I've been on vacation and working almost constantly. But i did as i promised. Hogwarts Express this chapter :D and i even got through the sorting. So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review. i've hardly gotten any and they are what make me get better! Anyways...i'm hoping to get the next chapter up in less time than this one took, so keep checking back!

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"AJ!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"SIRIUS!!!!!!!"

"Oh for the love of Merlin…" James shook his head as he walked onto Platform 9 3/4. As luck would have it, apparently he had walked onto the platform right as his two friends managed to find each other. He watched in mild amusement as they ran headfirst toward each other…and then headfirst into each other, snickering as he walked toward them. James was so amused that he failed to watch where he was going and ran straight into someone.

A rather frail looking boy fell right over as James careened into him. James rushed to help him up. "I'm so sorry mate. Should have been watching where I was going!" He held out his hand which the brown haired boy slowly took. "My name's James by the way. James Potter. I hope I didn't rough you up too much." James said as he pulled the boy to his feet.

"Remus Lupin. And no, I'm sure I'll live to do worse. Thanks for helping me up."

"It's the least he could do after he nearly killed you," growled Robyn protectively, who quickly shoved James aside to approach Remus.

"It was an accident Robyn."

"Yeah. I was too busy watching them." James pointed over to where AJ and Sirius were both rubbing their foreheads grumpily.

"Whoa! It's her!" Robyn and Remus cried simultaneously.

James looked at Remus and Robyn curiously. "You guys know AJ?"

"Unfortunately," grumbled Remus.

"Aw she isn't that bad. Especially considering the family she comes from. The Jenkins's are known as some of the cruelest purebloods out there but I don't think she really fits in with them. They kind of hate her for it I think." Robyn listened with interest as the three weaved their way through the crowd towards AJ and Sirius, though she couldn't help but notice the look of disgust and doubt that Remus had on his face.

"Oh hey guys!" AJ cried happily. "I can't believe you two know James. Now we can all be best mates!" The surrounding group looked at each other awkwardly.

"Actually AJ I just knocked Remus down. I have hardly spoken to him."

"Oh…well you will know him 'cause I predict we're all going to be best friends."

"Sirius laughed. "What are you a seer now?"

"It _is_ in my blood."

"Doesn't it skip generations?" Robyn suddenly spoke up, quietly.

AJ looked at her, happy that Robyn had chanced speaking when it was so obvious that Remus wasn't fond of her. "Yeah. Normally it only skips one or two though. We haven't had a decent seer since my great great great grandmother's great aunt."

Over top of the booming crowd came a shrill whistle signifying the approaching departure of the Hogwarts Express. There was a wave of motion as parents rushed to say a quick, final goodbye to their children for the next couple of months. The group was rapidly separated; AJ and Sirius were swept toward the train.

"I don't know why you want to be friends with them so badly. That girl is way too quiet. She doesn't seem like she'd be worth wasting your time," Sirius said in AJ's ear.

She stared at him incredulously for a moment before anger flashed across her face. "How dare you!" she growled, glaring into Sirius's surprised face. "She is going to be my best friend soon, and I wouldn't be a very good friend if I let you talk bad about her to my face."

"What's _wrong_ with you? You can't know who your best mates are before you even talk to them. It doesn't work that way."

AJ took a confused step backwards. "B-but I _do_ know."

"How?"

"I just…do."

"Well you just can't. It's not like you need anyone other than me…and maybe James anyways. Just stop trying to find these weird people."

"You can't tell me what to do!" AJ said stubbornly, crossing her arms.

"Yes I can. I'm your boyfriend."

"Not. Any. More." And with that AJ stomped off onto the train leaving her ex boyfriend standing confused and annoyed on the platform.

"Good. I didn't want to be your boyfriend anymore anyways." Sirius said looking around to see if anyone had noticed his embarrassing situation. His eyes fell on a group of girls standing nearby giggling. "I'll show her. I don't need her."

Sirius approached the nearby group with his normal self assured swagger back in place. "Hi. I'm Sirius Black. Who might you girls be?"

Robyn and Remus had managed to stay with James, but they soon boarded the train without him. Because they were boarding so close to departure there weren't many open compartments but after about 5 minutes they were settled into one toward the front of the train. They had barely closed the door behind their trunks before it was slammed open again. They looked with wide eyes as AJ practically ran into the compartment. The girl was obviously upset about something but they watched as her eyes fell on them and a smile was forced onto her face.

"Hey guys! I'm so happy I found you two!" She sat down across from them. "You guys don't mind if I sit here right?"

Robyn blinked a few times before finally responding, "No. It's perfectly fine, but…why aren't you with James and that other boy?"

AJ looked slowly between the two, resting her eyes on Remus a few seconds before returning them to Robyn. "I think that I have spent way too much time stuck with just Purebloods, don't you?"

Robyn glanced sideways at Remus and could tell that AJ's manner was quickly breaking through his shell. She watched as he narrowed his eyes a bit and opened his mouth. "Why? Decided that it's about time you started hanging out with halfbloods and mudbloods, people you can push around?"

AJ's mouth twisted into a sad smirk. "I'm a Jenkins. I could push around Purebloods if that's what I really wanted. I like getting my way, but I'm not my mother. I'm not whatever Pureblood hurt you either Remus. A lot of us are mean. James and- James is one of the nicest Purebloods I know. His whole family is that way. I want to be like them. Don't fall into the trap and hold my blood against me."

Remus eyed her for a moment and then he slowly nodded and said, "Do you mind if we start over?" Robyn looked at them both with a smile.

"Sure."

"Hi I'm Remus Lupin and this is my best friend, Robyn."

"Hi I'm AJ. It's nice to meet you. May I ask where you are headed today?" AJ responded with a laugh.

"Hogwarts."

At that exact moment the train lurched forward and they all giggled at the irony. Soon they had fallen into comfortable conversation ranging from favorite foods to what houses they hoped to be sorted into.

James was alone and he didn't like it one bit.

He had looked everywhere and hadn't been able to find Sirius or AJ. Finally he knew he had to get onto the train so he went searching for a compartment. It was slow going dragging his _and_ AJ's _and _Sirius's trunks. How he got stuck with all three he had no idea, but he was going to get them back somehow. None of the places he looked were open so finally entered one with a few boys playing a card game. They waved that he could stay and so he quickly got settled. He kept one eye on the card game as the train began to move. He almost had the game figured out when the door slid open.

"THERE YOU ARE!" Sirius stood in the doorway with his arm around the shoulders of a sad looking redhead.

"Sirius! Finally mate, where've you been?"

"Oh walking around with this lovely flower here." Sirius gave the girl's shoulders a little squeeze.

James ignored the girl. "But where's AJ?"

"Why should I know? She's probably off crying that this isn't her I've got my arm around."

The redhead looked up at the boy with something that went from shock to disgust. She pulled away and went to sit in the corner of the compartment. Sirius hardly noticed. James watched her sit then went back to questioning Sirius. Soon however it was obvious that Sirius wasn't going to tell him what happened and so they both got involved in the card game.

Lily watched as the card game got rapidly crazier. These guys were starting to act really weird. Yelling. Throwing cards. Jumping around when they won. Hitting things when they lost. They were acting like freaks. Her eyes quickly filled with tears. 'Petunia thinks _I'm _a freak. Maybe she's right,' she thought. 'I'm surrounded by people she thinks are freaks. It won't be long and I'll act just like them!'

Tears were still streaming down her face ten minutes later when the compartment door again slid open. The boys already in the compartment completely ignored their new arrival. They ignored the first albeit angry words that came from Lily. It wasn't until they heard the word "Slytherin" that they all turned around.

"Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" said James loudly.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin," said Sirius in reply.

"Blimey, and I thought you seemed all right!" James said with a smirk. Sirius smirked back. With Sirius and James on one side, it only took a few minutes of teasing before Severus and Lily were both very annoyed.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment." Lily said with obvious exasperation.

The two left the compartment to obvious catcalls and made their way to a surprisingly empty compartment where they spent the rest of their train talking. At first conversation was a bit stilted due to their recent argument, it wasn't long however before they were again on the best of terms.

Before long, the train arrived at Hogwarts. There was the usual awe from the first years as they all got off the train and could see the castle in the distance. Mayhem ensued as the head boy and head girl attempted to herd the second through seventh years away onto the carriages. A booming voice suddenly broke over the crowd. "Do I hav' ter do ever'thin around here? Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"

All of the first years ran to the boats, eager for the sorting to occur. AJ, Remus, and Robyn ended up in a boat with a few other strangers. They watched as Sirius and James walked up to another boat. Sirius looked AJ right in the eye as he helped another girl onto the seat next to him. Her eyes narrowed as the girl held onto his shirt in fear of the surrounding black water. Sirius smirked at AJ as he carefully slid his arms around the girl.

Robyn and Remus watched the proceedings with interest. They saw AJ narrow her eyes in return and then 'accidently' fall into one of the boys in their boat. Both were surprised at the perfection of her act as she giggled in embarrassment but continued to hold on to the boy 'for support.' They watched as both AJ and Sirius began carefully trying to outdo each other until the boats entered the pitch black docks underneath the school and were ushered in line in to be sorted. By this time the anticipation was too great for either to worry about their little contest of wills.

The line was walked out in front of the school. Each face filled with wonder as they saw the amazing surroundings that were the Great Hall. Four huge tables filled with hundreds of students stood in front of them. Perfectly polished silverware graced the tabletops. Two huge doors stood closed behind the tables. Candles floated over head just underneath the ceiling that was a perfect replica of the sky outside. It was beautiful.

Slowly, name after name was called. Sirius was right near the front of the line. He desperately wanted to break tradition, wanted to be in any house but Slytherin. When Gryffindor was called his heart leapt. He walked to his table amidst the normal applause and sat down in relief. He watched as the quiet girl his ex girlfriend wanted to be friends with joined him, as well as the pretty little redhead from the train joined the table- though she looked at him with disgust for some reason- followed by that boy named Remus and then his ex girlfriend herself was surprisingly sorted into Gryffindor as well. He was hardly worried as James stepped up to the hat. James too was sorted into Gryffindor. He came to sit next to Sirius with a joyful high five.

Thoughts of hunger were just starting to cross Sirius's mind as that boy they had dubbed "Snivellus" was sorted into the house he wanted. Slytherin. Soon after, the tables filled with more food than any first year had seen before. For Sirius, this meant that all was right in the world. Even though he was stuck in the same house as _Alice, _at least he wasn't in Slytherin. Sirius quickly invented a plan to avoid AJ as much as possible. He was in the final stages when suddenly a huge glob of shepherd's pie hit him in the face.

Startled and angry, he looked around to see who had dared to throw food at _him._ He looked down the table. Though no one looked guilty he knew. It was AJ. He filled his spoon with a mountain of mashed potatoes and hurled it toward AJ. Unfortunately, it never reached her. It hit a fourth year girl right in the ear. She squealed with the most annoying sound he had ever heard, and while bringing her hand up to see what hit her, she flung her plate onto the lap of the boy sitting next to her. This boy jumped up, knocking all the nearby dishes flying into more people. Soon it was a massive chain reaction. There were only five people without food on them at Gryffindor table by the time the food stopped flying, and Sirius knew something else. He knew he was going to be in a lot of trouble.


	9. Chapter 9

I am SO sorry it's been so long (almost a year! i'm a terrible person). And i KNOW this is really short. But i wanted to get SOMETHING up. I promise a new longer chapter will be up soon. Hopefully really soon. Like this week. Let me know if the story still works, and any constructive critism would be awesome!

* * *

Chapter 9

"Mr. Black I'm afraid this is going to be an incredibly long seven years."

Sirius looked up into the face of hell. Fire shot from the depths of her eyes and he imagined her hair crackling in anger. Her robes swished around her ankles as she paced before him. As terrifying as a lethifold. Strangely mystifying.

"As the newly appointed Head of Gryffindor House it is my responsibility to deal with the infractions of my students. That I already have to deal with those of a first year is appalling. Please tell me why you felt it proper to start throwing food at classmates your very first day here."

Sirius thought for a moment. He wasn't a snitch. He couldn't expose another student even if he were going to take the fall. But it was AJ. She deserved it. By the time his mind was made up, the woman before him was beginning to look slightly impatient. "Professor…?"

"McGonagall," she said tersely.

"Well Professor, I think this is all a big misunderstanding. See Alice Jenkins called down the table to me to pass her a spoonful of mash and swore that she could catch it if only I'd toss it. And I had it perfectly aimed to fall into her plate, but then that poor girl moved forward just enough to catch the food with her hair. Truly unfortunate that." And Sirius plastered a look of sadness across his face.

"Be that as it may Mr. Black, I'm afraid I'm going to have to punish the creator of the first food fight in recent Hogwarts' history. Detention with me every Thursday of this month from 6 until I deem fit to release you."

"I look forward to it Professor."

"Go to your dorm Black."

* * *

AJ looked around her new room with happiness. Right at the top of the tower, it had a perfect view from the window. There were just 5 other girls in the room. Robyn and a small redhead took the beds next to, and across from her chosen corner bed near the window. Two brunettes and a blond took the remaining beds. After a minute they all looked at each other a little warily.

Finally AJ spoke up. "I'm AJ."

"Robyn."

"Lily."

"Jennifer," said the blond who had taken the bed next to Lily.

"Allison," said one of the brunettes.

"Morgan," said the second with a blush.

They all stood awkwardly for a minute before Allison, Morgan, and Jennifer filed out the door and down to the common room. Lily was about to follow when AJ called out to her. "Hey Lily, where're you going?"

She jumped and looked back. "Uhm…"

"You should…come talk to me and Robyn. I have a feeling we'd all get along. That and I bet there's going to be some yelling down there in a minute."

Lily looked a little confused but made her way over to AJ's bed, where she gingerly sat at the edge.

Robyn was a little wary of AJ's rapid trust of people, but for some reason she felt that she could trust her judgment. She began to ask Lily a few questions about her home life, what it was like to be completely new to magic. It wasn't long before she realized that she was going to get along with Lily.

"I guess I'm not completely new to it because I've been accidently casting things for over a year now, but it was still a huge shock. I've been reading the textbooks so that maybe I'll be up to everyone's level, but I'm still a bit worried. Everyone else has such a head start."

"I don't know any spells really," exclaimed AJ suddenly. Lily looked at her. "Even purebloods aren't allowed to use magic outside of school until they're of age."

"But what about the accidents that happen?"

"No one can help those. The Ministry won't punish everyone for something they can't help," Robyn said.

Their conversation probably would have continued long into the night, but suddenly the sound of raised voices floated up into their room.

* * *

In the Common Room

"JAAAAAAAMMMMEEESSSSSS"

"YOU WILL NEVER GUESS WHAT HAPPENED!"

"WHAT?"

"I MET THE MOST LOVELY WOMAN. HER NAME IS PROFESSOR MCGONNAGAL! I HAVE TO MEET HER EVERY THURSDAY!"

"SERIOUSLY MATE?"

"OF COURSE I'M SERIOUS! I'M SIRIUS BLACK!"

There was a long silence as the three girls finished descending the staircase. AJ appeared bored and lagged a few steps behind. Robyn and Lily however were insanely curious. They peered into the common room and soon Lily began giggling. The common room was immense. Close to the entrance – which happened to be the back of an enormous painting – stood Sirius. All throughout the large space were clusters of couches and arm chairs. There was an entire wall lined with windows that each had a table underneath, perfect for studying, or perhaps a game of cards or chess. Overall the room was very warm and inviting, colored in maroons and golds. The warm feeling was certainly aided by a large fireplace surrounded by the largest cluster of armchairs. James was standing by this fireplace staring at Sirius incredulously. Why the two had been yelling was immediately obvious. They stood on opposite sides of the large room. Why the two hadn't gotten closer to each other before speaking was not as obvious, and obviously confused everyone else in the room. Every student in Gryffindor house was looking slowly in between the two first years with shock and confusion, and even a little amusement.

"Come on! That joke is so old!"

"Eleven years old in fact!" Suddenly Sirius got an odd look on his face and glanced to the staircase that led up to the girls' dormitory. AJ had just appeared in view. "James. We need to talk."

James's eyes found AJ. Quickly he turned to Sirius, nodded, and the two boys filed up the stairs leading into the boys' dormitory.

AJ's carefully schooled features wavered a moment and then anger flared across her face. She shoved past Lily and Robyn, stormed toward the portrait hole, knocked over a fat first year she faintly recalled being named Peter, and left.

Robyn and Lily observed this with worry, but neither really knew what to do, or even why AJ was angry. Slowly they finished their own descent and found Remus. As everyone else began talking and greeting each other and various games began to be played, the young trio began their own quiet conversation about what could be expected on their first day of classes.

* * *

"You want to get revenge…on AJ?" James knew he had heard correctly. The thing was, he prayed that he had heard wrong. AJ wasn't a girl to be messed with. He certainly didn't want to mess with her, but if that was what Sirius wanted, that would be exactly what he would have to do.

"She got me detention ALREADY! She started that stupid food fight! Now I have to go to detention all month!" Sirius was fuming, pacing back and forth across their dorm room.

"Why didn't you just tell the Professor that it was her?" James asked from his spot seated on his four poster bed.

Sirius stopped abruptly. "I am no snitch."

"I know. Alright fine. We'll get your revenge. But she might kill us. We'll have to be careful."

"I know. I'm not stupid. But she's going down mate. I need to get her back for this."

"I get it." James stood up and patted Sirius's back. "So what's the plan?"

Sirius began pacing again. He muttered a few things, numbered items off on his fingers, started to say something numerous times. James eventually got bored watching him and made to stand up and go to the common room. He took two steps, and tripped on the corner of someone's trunk, barely managing to catch himself. Sirius gasped and pointed at him.

"I've got it!"

"You're going to trip her? That's kind of stupid…"

"No! Merlin that's an awful idea. My idea is much better. But we're going to need a bit of time, and help." Suddenly the door opened and three of the other boys that stayed in their dorm entered. Sirius fell silent and sent James a meaningful look before quietly getting ready for bed. They both knew that this plan would have to wait until the morning. They didn't know who in their room they could trust, and it was way too early to risk AJ finding out.

* * *

Just one more time. Pleaseee review, even if i am a terrible evil person who never updates.


	10. Chapter 10

Ok. Here it is. Just like I promised. I'm going to try to get another one up soon too. We'll see. Hope you like it! Please review!

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"He's so STUPID," muttered AJ as she rushed out of the common room. She fled around turns and down long hallways. She didn't know where she was going, or why she was going there, but she knew she needed to get away from Sirius. She had no idea how long she had been running, how many doors she had passed by, how many flights of stairs she had gone up and down, and definitely had no idea how to get back.

Now that over an hour had passed, she had calmed down significantly. She looked around warily trying to find some marker of where she was. "I need a map for this place…" Quickly she ran to one end of the corridor she had arrived at and peered carefully around the corner. Nothing stuck out as unusual to her, and nothing looked remotely familiar. "This is ridiculous. Lost on my first day here." She ran back the way she had come, right past a huge tapestry, and looked both ways on that end. Still nothing. "Honestly, whoever thought making castles this confusing was bonkers. They should have made maps that showed everything. Or at least showed how to make one." Hoping against hope that she would find something new, she ran back one more time.

And a door appeared in the middle of the corridor. Cautiously she approached the door. As a member of a very ancient, sometimes maniacal, magical family, she knew very well that things that appear by magic, are not always pleasant. Slowly she opened the door, and then gasped in surprise. The room was completely filled with maps. Maps of Hogwarts, maps of the Forbidden Forest, maps of everything. To the walls were pinned huge maps of different places, and underneath on large wooden tables were neatly folded copies of maps. There were tins full of different colored pins and tins full of dark quills to mark up the maps. In the middle of the room was a large three dimensional map of Hogwarts atop of what appeared to be a miniature hill growing from the floor. AJ walked around this model in awe.

With a slightly unsure hand, she reached forward and touched one of the towers, jumping back as the model completely changed. It appeared to zoom in on the area she had touched. Instead of a hill growing from the floor, it was the tower itself growing from the floor. Intrigued, she looked through a little window in the model. There were even tiny desks and chairs inside. Carefully, she reached in and touched one of the small desks. Again she leapt back as the model changed. This time it was a perfect imitation of the inside of the room she had probed. She was so amazed, she spent almost half an hour playing with the model, discovering that she was quickly learning her way around the castle using this little model, and also that she could see things moving in some rooms, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find any people or animals. Finally she realized that apparently this couldn't show living creatures, but it was still the most amazing thing she had ever seen.

"I would fancy one of these for myself. I wish I knew how to make one. It'd be brilliant."

A really heavy book appeared right on her lap.

"_The Complete Magical Map and Model Making Guide: 314__th__ Edition. _Perfect! Only…where am I?"

The model spun wildly for a moment before slowing to a stop with a view of the large tapestry outside of the room she was currently residing in.

"Can you tell me the fastest way to get to the Gryffindor Common Room?"

The model again spun wildly, but instead of slowing, it continued to spin faster and faster until it exploded into a cloud of teal smoke that lightly settled over her body. Suddenly she felt a distinct draw pulling her toward the door of the room. Tucking the book underneath her arm, she decided to follow the tug. Hardly paying attention as she walked, she thought back to the reason she had fled in the first place.

Sirius. If he were planning something – and she was positive he was – then she had to be prepared. He wasn't supposed to get one up on her ever. If he were planning something, she would find out. She would turn it on him. Even if she had to get Robyn and Lily to help her, she would beat him, and anyone who thought to help him.

* * *

The next morning Robyn awoke feeling a little nervous. It was the first day of classes, and who knew what was going to happen. Rolling over, she smiled slightly when she saw that AJ had made it into her bed sometime during the night. She hadn't been there when she and Lily had made it up to their own four-poster beds at around midnight. She had actually been worried about AJ. Something in her incredibly random declarations of fierce loyalty, one of which had been directed towards her, made AJ very endearing. Robyn really liked her.

Quietly Robyn got out of bed and got dressed, donning her new robes with the Gryffindor crest with a slight touch of pride, and made her way downstairs. She had heard that breakfast was served even for the early risers like her, although it appeared no one else in her house was up yet, so maybe she was too early. Pushing aside that thought, she left through the portrait hole and made her way toward the Great Hall. She of course had made sure to memorize all of the twists and turns that led between the two last night on their walk to the common room.

She was almost to the Great Hall when someone called her name. She spun to face the person and was stunned to see Carran Avery approaching her.

"Carran?" she said a bit warily.

He laughed. "Don't look so nervous. I don't bite."

"Sorry, I'm just a little confused."

"And why is that?"

"Because in our Common Room last night I heard that Slytherins don't get along with Gryffindors," Robyn stated with a nod toward Carran's own house crest on his robe.

He walked up beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. "Well normally that is true, but there's something about you that I like little Gryffindor. Now anyways, where was it that you were headed so early in the morning?"

Robyn had stiffened the moment he'd come closer – something about him just felt slightly off – but she tried to answer normally. "I decided to go grab a bite to eat in the Great Hall."

Carran laughed lightly. "The Great Hall isn't open quite yet. It will open in a touch under an hour though. I was about to go for a walk around the grounds. Care to join me?"

Though Robyn couldn't shake the feeling that something about this boy was off, he was quickly causing her to feel at ease. And what else did she have to do until the Great Hall opened? She nodded her consent and together, the two went outside with Carran's arm still around her shoulders.

* * *

Remus and Lily happened to come down to the Common Room at about the same time. There were slight stirrings of movement in many of the rooms in Gryffindor Tower now. After only a quick question as to the whereabouts of Robyn, they made their way in companionable silence toward the Great Hall. They arrived to see about twelve other students sitting spaced around all four of the tables. They noted that Robyn wasn't here either, and then found a seat at Gryffindor's table.

"I wonder where Robyn is." Lily finally spoke up as she grabbed a piece of toast and a bowl of jam. She could see the worry in Remus's eyes, and almost regretted speaking aloud.

"I have no idea. I can't imagine her wandering on only the first day of classes. I hope she's alright." He reached forward to grab a bowl of fruit, and then stopped and folded his hands in his lap.

"Are you alright Remus?"

"I'm just suddenly not hungry anymore."

"Please eat something. I'm sure she's alright."

A few minutes later, the doors to the Great Hall creaked open. They twisted to see who was entering, and were shocked. In strolled Robyn with some unknown Slytherin. Even more shocking, was the fact that they were talking and laughing together. And the most shocking to Lily and Remus was the fact that the Slytherin's arm was around her shoulders and Robyn's arm was around his waist. They walked in a few more steps and then he said something to her and they quickly hugged and then separated. Robyn approached the Gryffindor table smiling.

Remus stood up when she got near them. "Who was that?"

"Oh a friend of mine, Carran. I met him over the summer. We went for a walk over the grounds."

"But he's a Slytherin! That's as good as saying 'evil Pureblood!' Are you crazy?" Remus cried.

Robyn's happy expression faded. "Remus. He was very nice to me."

"He could have hurt you! No one would have known where you were!"

Suddenly her pride kicked in. "I can take care of myself."

"No you can't," Remus said bluntly.

Robyn was starting to get angry. "And you can do better?"

"Of course I can."

Robyn grabbed an apple from the table and stormed out of the Great Hall.

Slowly Lily stood as well. "Remus, that was not fair at all," she said and followed the path Robyn had taken.

Remus stared after both of them with a sinking feeling that maybe he had made a big mistake.

* * *

Sirius and James groaned and rolled out of their beds. They had been up late into the night finalizing their plan to retaliate against AJ. But everything was in place.

"James! It's today!"

"It's always today Sirius," mumbled James as he walked around, pulling on his clothes.

"But it's breakfast. We need to get down there!"

"Oh blimey. You're right." He quickly pulled on his clothes and ran his hands through his hair a few times as Sirius got dressed. They were running out the door in minutes and they rushed to the Great Hall. As they crashed through the door into the now packed Great Hall, they scanned Gryffindor's table. AJ wasn't there yet, and neither were her two "best friends" who she had just met, but the new boy who was in their dormitory was sitting by himself toward one end of the table. They made their way toward him and sat down beside him.

"Remus, right?" said James as they began piling their plates with food.

* * *

AJ had woken up early. Robyn and Lily had already been gone, but she had stayed in bed reading her new book. It was perfect. It told her how to draw maps and how to enchant them. It had some really interesting spells she longed to try. She finally shut it and was startled to see how late it was. She set the book reverently on her bedside table and quickly ran off to the Great Hall.

On her way, she happened to run into Robyn and Lily sitting quietly on the ledge of a window. After a few minutes of persuasion, she convinced them to accompany her to breakfast. They made their way the last few corridors and entered, making their way to three seats at the opposite end of the table from James, Sirius, and Remus. They had been there less than five minutes, and had received their schedules, when a lone owl swooped in and landed in front of AJ. Curious, she reached forward and grabbed the package that the owl held between its claws. It immediately took off and flew away. AJ rapidly tore off the packing paper and opened the box.

And it exploded.

A cloud of pink dust blew over the three girls, settling over their skin, hair and clothes. Gasping in shock, they attempted to wipe off the dust, and soon found that though the dust fell from their robes harmlessly, the color stayed in place on their skin and hair. They jumped to their feet and were met by the laughing and stares of the entire Great Hall. Three faces stuck out though. Two smirking and triumphant boys, and the pale, shocked boy sitting in between them.

With as much dignity as the bright pink girls could muster, they strode from the hall and to the nearest bathroom. After a bit of scrubbing, the pink faded from their skin, but nothing they could do would remove it from their hair.

"It was them!" cried AJ. "I know it was! I can't believe this!"

Lily ran her fingers through her hair in shock. "Why would they do this?"

"I can't believe Remus would have sided with them," muttered Robyn.

They stared at their reflections for a few minutes before turning to each other angrily.

"We have to get them back!" said AJ.

"I'm in. Sirius and James especially have to pay," agreed Lily.

"Let's not leave Remus out. He deserves it too," Robyn added.

Lily then brought up a good question. "But where will we meet?"

"I know the perfect place! When I was lost I found this room that listens to what you want, and gives you it. We can go there!"

Quickly AJ gave them directions, they agreed on a time, and they left to their first class, pink hair flowing behind them.


	11. Chapter 11

OK I got this one up finally. I know it's been a little while, but I was a bit stuck on how to do the classes. Anyways, I am going to start on the next chapter as soon as this is posted, so I'd love some comments and critiques to keep me motivated! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

The Gryffindors had a break after breakfast, and James and Sirius used it as their time to gloat.

"Did you see her _face_? It was brilliant!" Sirius said as he leaned against the wall right outside of the Great Hall. His face shone with excitement although somehow he still managed to appear mostly cool and calm. James on the other hand, while excited and thrilled that their plan had worked, was still a bit nervous.

"Yeah mate, she was mad though. Do you think she'll turn us in?"

"Nah. She's not the type. "

"You're right. Did you see the other two? The red headed one looked like she was about to cry. Hilarious. She was so touchy on the train, she could do with a bit of a shake up."

"I know! I'd feel a little bad, but they're friends with _Alice_." Sirius hissed her name with such a large amount of spite that James was a bit shocked.

"You know she's not all bad right?"

Sirius looked at James as though he had uttered the most vulgar language on the planet. "Of course she is! She…she just is. Maybe you don't get it. But ugh. I hate her."

James gazed at Sirius, a little confused. "Didn't you love her yesterday or something?"

"I was wrong."

Both boys stopped talking as a small group of students walked past. James had been considering what Sirius said as they stood in silence when a nasty thought entered his head.

_AJ was most likely going to want revenge._

* * *

Remus had been left behind when James and Sirius left the Great Hall. He wasn't too upset. They were loud, rowdy, and just in general not the kind of people he liked to be around. He did get up soon after they left though. He felt particularly healthy today as it was still nearly two weeks until the next full moon, so he decided to head out for a walk as he didn't have his first class for a little while still.

As he got outside the giant doors he took a deep breath of the fresh air and just started walking. He really needed to clear his head. So much had already happened during this one day that he hardly knew what to do. Would every day be this insane here? Would Robyn forgive him? Why was she with that Slytherin anyways? Probably because he wasn't good enough. He was a werewolf after all. He was probably way more dangerous than any Slytherin would ever be for her. But even if it was dangerous for her, he didn't want to lose her for himself. He didn't have anyone as close as her. He had no one else to lean on. He needed her.

Remus hadn't been paying much attention to where he was going, and was surprised to find himself near the Forbidden Forest. Looking around, he saw a tree that was out of place, slightly apart from the forest. He slowly approached it, knowing exactly why it was placed there. He was indebted to Professor Dumbledore. No other headmaster anywhere would have allowed a werewolf to attend school at their institution. But Dumbledore was no ordinary headmaster. He would gladly give anyone a chance, and he had invited Remus to attend Hogwarts. He had devised a plan to keep the other students safe from anything he may attempt to do while changed. Dumbledore created an underground path to a sealed up, "haunted" house in the nearby town of Hogsmeade, and to prevent students from accidently stumbling upon the entrance to the tunnel, he had planted a huge Whomping Willow on top of the entrance. The tree would viciously attack anyone who got within its reach. Only Dumbledore, Remus, and the nurse knew how to get the tree to allow them in. He approached the tree and spotted the massive knot near the base of the tree. The nurse would walk him out to this tree on the nights of the full moon and would use a stick to prod the knot to paralyze the tree momentarily to allow him inside.

In a way this tree was a sign of his miracle. He was able to attend Hogwarts. But it was also a sign of his curse. He slowly turned his back on the flailing tree and made his way back toward the castle.

* * *

By the time the three girls had gotten all of the pink scrubbed off of their skin and planned everything out, it was about time for their first class of their Hogwarts education. First on their schedule was History of Magic with a Professor named Binns. They had the class with all of the first year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, and both sets of first years rapidly learned that this old man rambled on and on in a completely monotone voice. He barely reacted to Sirius' and James' whispered conversation in the back corner. Perhaps because his hearing was going and he just didn't hear them, but nevertheless, he also didn't react to a large portion of the class falling asleep at their desks. Lily, Robyn, Remus, and the Ravenclaws all managed to take notes throughout the entire period, but all parties were thrilled when the double block class was over.

After class AJ, Robyn, and Lily faded away from the crowd of students rushing off to lunch and made their way to their previously established meeting point. They entered the room to find three very comfortable chairs arranged in a circle around a table. On the table were an assortment of sandwiches and three glasses of pumpkin juice. Various bookshelves filled with books titled thing such as _The Most Potent Potions of Revenge _and _They Will Pay: a Complete Array of Spells to Ensure Revenge_. There were boards for brainstorming, and maps for planning purposes. There was also a clock counting down until the time that they would have to leave to be on time for their Herbology class. Eyeing the clock, they quickly got to work, nearly forgetting to eat their food.

AJ was all for finding a way to make the clothing disappear from the bodies of the three boys. She believed that they deserved to be embarrassed in front of everyone the way they had embarrassed her and her new friends. That reputation would never fade.

Robyn wanted something a little quieter, but more nasty. She wanted to find a way to spell rashes on their bodies. Hidden from the public, but extremely itchy so that the boys would have no way to ignore the feeling.

Similar ideas floated between the two girls, but Lily had yet to say a word. Suddenly she spoke up. "I say we make them look good."

"What?" the other two cried out, completely confused.

"If we make them look good then they will be terrified. They will expect something really terrible to be coming and will get really jumpy. They will always watch their backs."

Robyn started to catch on. "Did you see how everyone loved what happened to us? Maybe we should make these guys seem like pranking gods."

Then AJ had the finishing touches figured out. "How about we make them look good first, so they are afraid of what we do, and then we pull a prank on ourselves and set it up so they get in trouble for it. The guys would never believe we'd embarrass ourselves."

All three girls were starting to get excited. They were all on the same page and knew that they could get all of it figured out later they night. They were in no rush. They had seven years to make these boys' lives hell.

* * *

Herbology was an interesting class. They had it with the Hufflepuff first years and a young Professor Sprout. She definitely didn't lack in experience however. She was incredibly matter-of-fact in her teaching style. She made sure every student was looking at every plant and noticing all the right properties. Even Sirius and James couldn't find a way to screw around in her greenhouse.

Next they had a double block Defense Against the Dark Arts class. It was instructed by Professor Linor, a kind old man who claimed to fit as much into every class as he could manage. There was a lot of interest in his class. It was their first class in practical magic, and they were all excited to learn some spells. The class was very divided however. They had this class with the Slytherins, and so one half was all Gryffindor while the other half was for Slytherin.

"Now this won't do at all," Professor Linor said after seeing the seating arrangements. "If you were attacked, would you care who was at your side to help you? You'd want all the help you could find." After observing all of the students glaring up at him, Professor Linor spoke up again. "Alright. Unfortunately I can see you both will leave me with no choice. I shall be assigning partners for next class. Don't expect to be with someone from your own house."

His announcement was met by a chorus of indignant exclamations from his audience, but he quickly moved into his first lesson.

He dismissed them on time and the hallway was filled with the muttering of some very unhappy students.

"He can't do this!"

"They're evil. They'll kill me as I'm taking notes."

"This is the worst thing all day!"

One Slytherin boy even said, "He can't make me sit next to a bunch of mudbloods and blood traitors. My mum won't allow it."

Unfortunately for both houses, their next class was also together, and even worse, as they walked into their Transfiguration class with Professor McGonagall, she assigned them seats, all at random. A Slytherin might be flanked by Gryffindors or totally surrounded by other Slytherins. She didn't play favorites. She got straight to the point. As soon as everyone was seated she leaped into the air and right before their eyes she turned into a cat. There were gasps of shock as some had never seen anything like it before. The professor however left no room for chatting. She quickly changed back and got them to work.

They ended the day with another practical class, though much more calm than the last two. They had it with the Ravenclaws, who were really quite nice though did act a bit like know-it-alls sometimes. It was Charms with a middle-aged professor named Flitwick. They didn't really get a chance to start any spells on this day, but they did hear about a few they would get to use soon.

* * *

James and Sirius were thrilled when classes were over. They ran out into the halls and outside as quickly as they could. They slowed down to a walk once they were outside and made their way toward the large black lake.

"Hey Sirius?"

"Yeah James?"

"I've been thinking…"

"Ok?"

James didn't answer immediately. He was actually a bit apprehensive.

"James?"

Then the words spilled out of James's mouth in a rush. "."

"What?"

James took a deep breath. "I think AJ and her friends are going to try to get revenge on us for what we did."

"Ha right." Sirius scoffed. "AJ might do something like that. But the other two are too good to break any rules. And like they could get one up on us anyways."

"AJ could."

"Why do you always support her? She isn't smart. She isn't funny. She isn't pretty. She isn't good at anything."

"Ok Sirius."

"I'm glad we agree on something."

"Yeah…"

"JAMES! JAMES! Did you see that?" Sirius yelled pointing off toward the other side of the lake.

"No? What happened?"

"That tree just hit a bird!"

"Really? Is that a whomping willow? I didn't know they had any at Hogwarts."

"That's so cool! You think if we shoved AJ at it, it would hit her too?"

"Yeah…that is what those trees do. They're actually are really bad. They could hurt somebody."

"Why's it here then?"

"Who knows."

* * *

The girls on the other hand walked calmly out of class. They went back to the room to keep planning. They were almost there when AJ suddenly stopped. "I forgot! I have a book that can help make really good maps. We should each try to make one! I'll go get the book while you guys open up the room."

The other two nodded and began walking again. None of them noticed the boy hiding in the shadows nearby. Remus followed Lily and Robyn carefully, keeping at such a far distance he nearly lost them at a few of the turns. When he finally rounded the last turn he saw them turn around almost in his direction and he quickly ducked back. When he finally got the nerve to peek around again they were nowhere to be found. He jogged down the hallway to where there was a lone tapestry in the middle. Carefully he poked and prodded it trying to see if a doorway would appear. Just as he was about to give up, a loud crashing noise came from down the hall.

"Merlin! Sorry Book." AJ's voice floated around the corner. Remus took off at a sprint in the opposite direction. As soon as he turned the corner he sat on the floor gasping for air. He faintly heard her pacing back and forth and he looked around just in time to see her walk right through what had been a solid wall minutes earlier. Running forward, he attempted to walk through the wall where AJ had just been, and smashed face-first into a solid stone wall.

He grabbed his throbbing nose with one hand, tears streaming down his face. Shakily, he reached out one hand and ran his hand up and down over the wall, and a fair distance left and right. The entire thing was solid. After a few minutes he walked back down the hall and made his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room, a bad feeling settling in his stomach as he thought about what those three girls could be cooking up.


End file.
